await
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English awaiten, from Old Northern French awaitier (“to lie in wait for, watch, observe”), originally especially with a hostile sense; itself from a- (“to”) + waitier (“to watch”).[1] More at English wait.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]await (third-person singular simple present awaits, present participle awaiting, simple past and past participle awaited)
- (transitive, formal) To wait for.
- I await your reply to my letter.
- 1674, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost:
- Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, / Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night;
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.
- 2024 April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1007, page 57:
- After 170416 heads into the bay platform (2) to be prepared for its next trip to 'Skeggy', there's time to grab a coffee and await the arrival of RAIL's next train - the 1144 Leicester-Grimsby Town.
- (transitive) To expect.
- (transitive) To be in store for; to be ready or in waiting for.
- Glorious rewards await the good in heaven; eternal suffering awaits mortal sinners in hell.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:
- Standing foursquare in the heart of the town, at the intersection of the two main streets, a "jog" at each street corner left around the market-house a little public square, which at this hour was well occupied by carts and wagons from the country and empty drays awaiting hire.
- 1674, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost:
- O Eve, some further change awaits us nigh.
- (transitive, intransitive) To serve or attend; to wait on, wait upon.
- (intransitive) To watch, observe.
- (intransitive) To wait; to stay in waiting.
Usage notes
[edit]- As await means to wait for, it is not followed by "for". *I am awaiting for your reply is therefore incorrect.
Synonyms
[edit]- (wait for): wait for, anticipate, listen (of a sound); See also Thesaurus:wait for
- (serve or attend): attend to, service; See also Thesaurus:serve
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]transitive: to wait for
|
transitive: to expect
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transitive: to be in store for
to serve
intransitive, to stay in waiting
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Noun
[edit]await (plural awaits)
- (obsolete) A waiting for; ambush.
- (obsolete) Watching, watchfulness, suspicious observation.
- 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book VII, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- Also, madame, syte you well that there be many men spekith of oure love in this courte, and have you and me gretely in awayte, as thes Sir Aggravayne and Sir Mordred.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- For all that night, the whyles the Prince did rest […] He watcht in close awayt with weapons prest […].
References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “await”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Northern French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/eɪt
- Rhymes:English/eɪt/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English formal terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- Middle English terms with quotations