Final answer:
The Old English verb meaning 'to close or fasten' is 'fasten'. Old English was used between 450 to 1066 AD and has evolved significantly to form modern English. Knowledge of Old English helps understand the etymology and evolution of the language.
Step-by-step explanation:
The word that is an Old English verb meaning "to close or fasten" is 'fasten'. Old English, sometimes known as Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest form of the English language, spoken in parts of what are now England and southern Scotland between 450 to 1066 A.D. Examples of the Old English can be seen in Beowulf, an epic poem where the language is rich with distinctive spellings and character sets.
When comparing Old English to modern English, there are significant differences in grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Words like 'wright' are also from Old English and mean a maker or builder, indicating professions like shipwrights and wheelwrights. Moreover, the evolution of the language included changes in verb tense endings, with the past tense often ending in -t, like 'dyrnan' (to dare), which in past form is 'dyrnde'.
The understanding of word forms and their meanings also extend to more contemporary rules, such as the differentiation between 'lose' and 'loose', as well as 'write', 'wrote', and 'written', which involve distinct spellings for the verb forms. Knowledge of Old English helps in understanding the etymology of modern English words and the language's development over time.