Wiktionary

await

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

  • (UK) IPA(key): /əˈweɪt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪt

Verb edit

await (third-person singular simple present awaits, present participle awaiting, simple past and past participle awaited)

  1. (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.
  2. (transitive) To expect.
  3. (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.
  4. (transitive, intransitive) To serve or attend; to wait on, wait upon.
  5. (intransitive) To watch, observe.
  6. (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

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun edit

await (plural awaits)

  1. (obsolete) A waiting for; ambush.
  2. (obsolete) Watching, watchfulness, suspicious observation.

References edit

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “await”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams edit

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