wait
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English waiten, wayten, from Old Northern French waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaiter, guaitier), from Old Frankish *wahtōn, *wahtjan (“to watch, guard”), derivative of *wahta (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be fresh, cheerful, awake”). Cognate with Old High German wahtēn (“to watch, guard”), Dutch wachten (“to wait, expect”), French guetter (“to watch out for”), North Frisian wachtjen (“to stand, stay put”). More at watch.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
wait (third-person singular simple present waits, present participle waiting, simple past and past participle waited)
- (transitive, now rare) To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by "wait for".)
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 30:
- The Court had assembled, to wait events, in the huge antechamber known as the Œil de Boeuf.
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 30:
- (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
- Wait here until your car arrives.
- (intransitive, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
- She used to wait down at the Dew Drop Inn.
Usage notes [edit]
- In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms [edit]
- (delay until event): hold one's breath
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from wait (verb)
Translations [edit]
transitive: delay until — see await
delay until some event
|
|
to serve customers
Noun [edit]
wait (plural waits)
- A delay.
- I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
- An ambush.
- They laid in wait for the patrol.
- (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
- plural Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
- plural Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]
- (Can we date this quote?) Beaumont and Fletcher
- Hark! are the waits abroad?
- (Can we date this quote?) Washington Irving
- The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony.
- (Can we date this quote?) Beaumont and Fletcher
Translations [edit]
a delay
Related terms [edit]
Statistics [edit]
-
Most common English words before 1923: sitting · Christ · begin · #789: wait · laughed · opportunity · lines
Anagrams [edit]
Elfdalian [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old Norse hvítr, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz.
Adjective [edit]
wait
Gothic [edit]
Romanization [edit]
wait
- See 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍄
Tok Pisin [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From English white.
Adjective [edit]
wait
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Northern French
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with homophones
- English verbs
- English terms with rare senses
- American English
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English control verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- Elfdalian terms derived from Old Norse
- Elfdalian terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Elfdalian adjectives
- dlc:Colors
- Gothic romanizations
- Tok Pisin terms derived from English
- Tok Pisin adjectives
