waste

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English waste (noun, “a waste”), from Old Northern French wast, waste (“a waste”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *wastjo (“a waste”), derivative of *wastjan (“to waste”), possibly from Latin vastō (“to waste”), merging with Low Frankish *wōstin, *wōstinna (“a waste, wasteland”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstin- (“a waste, wasteland”), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted”). Cognate with Old High German waste (“a waste”), Old High German wuostī (German Wüste, “a waste”), Old High German wuostinna (“a desert, waste”), Old English wēsten (“a waste, wasteland”).

[edit] Noun

waste (countable and uncountable; plural wastes)

  1. A waste land; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness.
  2. A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
  3. A large tract of uncultivated land.
  4. A vast expanse of water.
  5. A disused mine or part of one.
  6. The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.
    That was a waste of time
    Her life seemed a waste
  7. Large abundance of something, especially without it being used.
  8. Gradual loss or decay.
  9. A decaying of the body by disease; wasting away.
  10. (rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; See "to lay waste"
  11. Excess of material, useless by-products or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
  12. Excrement (animal waste, human waste).
  13. (law) A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect.
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from waste (noun)
[edit] Translations
desolate place
loss, ineffective use
decay
useless products, garbage
excrement
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle English waste (adjective, “waste”), from Old Northern French wast (“waste”), a conflation of Latin vāstus (“empty”) and Frankish *wōsti (“waste, empty”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstijaz (“wasted, abandoned, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted”). Cognate with Old High German wuosti (“waste, empty”), Old Saxon wōsti (“desolate”), Old English wēste (“waste, barren, desolate, empty”).

[edit] Adjective

waste (comparative more waste, superlative most waste)

  1. (now rare) Uncultivated, uninhabited.
    • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XIII:
      So whan Sir Galahad was departed frome the Castell of Maydyns he rode tyll he com to a waste forest [...].
  2. Barren; desert.
    • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 255:
      For centuries the shrine at Mecca had been of merely local importance, far outshone by the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, whose cult Christians had in good measure renewed by their pilgrimage in honour of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, while leaving the actual site of the Jerusalem Temple dishonoured and waste.
  3. Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
  4. Superfluous; needless.
  5. Unfortunate; Disappointing.
[edit] Usage notes

Same meanings as wasted.

[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
barren
excess
superfluous; needless

[edit] Etymology 3

From Middle English wasten (“to waste, lay waste”), from Old Northern French waster (“to waste, devastate”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *wasten, *wastjan (“to waste, devastate”), possibly from Latin vastō (“to waste”) and Frankish *wōstēn, *wōstjan (“to lay waste, devastate”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstijanan (“to waste”), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted”). Cognate with Old High German wuostjan (German wüsten, “to waste”), Old English wēstan (“to lay waste, ravage”).

[edit] Verb

waste (third-person singular simple present wastes, present participle wasting, simple past and past participle wasted)

  1. (transitive, now rare) To devastate or destroy.
  2. (transitive) To use up, diminish, reduce by gradual loss; to decay; to emaciate.
    After he lost hope, he wasted away.
  3. (transitive) To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.
    We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project.
  4. (transitive, slang) To kill; to murder.
  5. (intransitive) Gradually lose weight or weaken.
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from waste (verb)
[edit] Translations
to destroy
to decay
to squander
to kill
to weaken
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] See also

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈʋɑs.tə/

[edit] Verb

waste

  1. singular past indicative and subjunctive of wassen.
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