French edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old French gaitier, guaitier, from 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). Compare English wait, ultimately from the same origin through an Anglo-Norman/Old Northern French variant.

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

guetter

  1. (transitive) to watch (intently), to watch for, to lie in wait
    Near-synonym: épier
    Le chat guette la souris.The cat lies in wait for the mouse.
    Des gendarmes le guettent.Gendarmes are lying in wait for him.
  2. (transitive, figurative) to await in order to seize
    guetter une occasionto wait for an opportunity
  3. (transitive, figurative) to menace, to loom (to appear in a threatening form)
    La mort le guette.Death hangs over him.
    • 1997, Bernard Fauconnier, chapter 3, in Kaïros, Grasset:
      J’avais acheté une vieille 4L dont les cardans exténués rendaient d’inquiétants sons de castagnettes et je roulais des journées entières sur des routes où la mort guettait à chaque virage.
      I had bought an old [Renault] 4L whose worn-out joints were worryingly making sounds like castanets, and I drove for whole days on roads where death seemed to lurk around every corner.

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Saint Dominican Creole French: gueté

Further reading edit