1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Oast

OAST (O. Eng. ást, cf. Dutch eest, “kiln”; the Teutonic root is aidh- “to burn”; the pre-Teutonic idh- is seen in Lat. aestus, “heat,” aestas, “summer,” Gr. αἶθος, “burning heat”), a kiln, particularly one used for drying hops; the word usually appears in the term “oast-house,” a building containing several of such kilns (see Hop). “Oast” is also sometimes used of a kiln for drying tobacco.