wait
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
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
Verb
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 (Now generally superseded by "wait for".)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
- In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms
- (delay until event): hold one's breath
Derived terms
Terms derived from wait (verb)
Translations
transitive: delay until — see await
delay until some event
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to serve customers
Noun
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
a delay
Related terms
Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: sitting · Christ · begin · #789: wait · laughed · opportunity · lines
Anagrams
Elfdalian
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