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vast, vasti, vastie noun a hand 19-. etymology: possibly ultimately a development of Sanskrit hasta ‘a hand’; Romany form vasti attesed by Kirk Yeholm Gypsies; Joseph F G S Lucas suggests a Hindi or Persian root; also collected by Rev John Baird and Simson (1865) who cites it for both Scottish Gipsies and Kirk Yetholm Gypsies and attested by two of his informants note:

Grellmann (1787) collected the forms Waʃt Waʃs with the same meaning from Continental gipsies. Smart & Crofton (1875) collected the form vast ‘a hand’ from English Gypsies.