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.

• IPA: /weɪt/
• (America) IPA: /weɪt/, [weɪ̯ʔt]

wait (waits, present participle waiting; simple past and past participle waited)

1. (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 (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)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.

2. (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.

   Wait here until your car arrives.

   • 1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XVI. When I Consider How My Light is Spent.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC ↗, page 59 ↗:

     They also serve who only stand and wait.

   • 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.

3. (intransitive, stative, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.

   She used to wait in this joint.

4. (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.

5. (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
6. (obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
7. (obsolete, except in phrases) To watch with malicious intent; to lie in wait
8. (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)

1. A delay.

   I had a very long wait at the airport security check.

2. 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

3. (computing) Short for wait state.
4. (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
5. (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

6. (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. […]

• wake
• watch

• French: attente
• German: Warten
• Italian: attesa
• Portuguese: espera
• Russian: ожида́ние
• Spanish: espera, retraso

1. (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.

1. Surname.