wait
see also: Wait
Etymology
Wait
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
see also: Wait
Etymology
From Middle English waiten, from Anglo-Norman waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaitier, guaitier), from Frankish *wahtwēn, derivative of Frankish *wahtu, from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ-.
In some senses, merged or influenced by Middle English waiten, weiten, from Old Norse veita, from Proto-Germanic *waitijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd-.
Largely overtook native Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan.
Pronunciation Verbwait (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 (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)
- to wait one’s turn
- 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
- Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing looks their promised guide.
- (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
- Wait here until your car arrives.
- 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
- Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗, page 46 ↗:
- No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
- (intransitive, stative, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
- She used to wait in this joint.
- (transitive, obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
- 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
- He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.
- 1714, Nicholas Rowe, The Tragedy of Jane Shore:
- Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, / And everlasting anguish be thy portion.
- (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
- (obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
- (obsolete, except in phrases) To watch with malicious intent; to lie in wait
- (intransitive) To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.
- 1957, Dagny Taggart, Francisco d'Anconia, Ayn Rand's, Atlas Shrugged:
- She did not question him. Before leaving, she asked only, "When will I see you again?" He answered, "I don't know. Don't wait for me, Dagny. Next time we meet, you will not want to see me."
- 1974, The Bee Gees, Night Fever:
- I will wait / Even if it takes forever / I will wait / Even if it takes a lifetime
- (delay until) await, wait for; See also Thesaurus:wait for
- (delay until some event) hold one's breath; See also Thesaurus:wait
- (serve customers) wait on, wait upon, serve
- (attend with ceremony or respect) bestand, serve, tend; See also Thesaurus:serve
- (attend as a consequence) attend, escort, go with
- (defer or postpone) defer, postpone; See also Thesaurus:procrastinate
- (remain celibate)
- French: attendre, patienter
- German: warten
- Italian: aspettare, attendere
- Portuguese: esperar, aguardar
- Russian: ждать
- Spanish: esperar, aguardar
- French: servir, faire le service
- German: bedienen
- Italian: servire a tavola
- Portuguese: servir
- Russian: обслу́живать
- Spanish: servir, ser camarero (Spain)
wait (plural waits)
- A delay.
- I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
- An ambush.
- They lay in wait for the patrol.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
- an enemy in wait
- (computing) Short for wait state.
- (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
- (in the plural, obsolete, UK) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
- 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XVII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC ↗:
- […] as he returned home to his owne house, the waits should sound the hautboies all the way
- (in the plural, UK) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]
- 1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC ↗, Act II, scene ii:
- Hark! are the waits abroad?
- 1819-1820, Washington Irving, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon
- 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.
- 1890, Algernon Blackwood, Christmas in England:
- […] the waits begin their rounds, and going from house to house, […] they sing carols and Christmas hymns until […] another Christmas-day has dawned. […]
- French: attente
- German: Warten
- Italian: attesa
- Portuguese: espera
- Russian: ожида́ние
- Spanish: espera, retraso
- (informal) Tells the other speaker to stop talking, typing etc. for a moment.
- Wait. Stop talking for a moment while I get my head straight.
Wait
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
