Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗A delay. · An ambush. · Ellipsis of wait state. · One who watches; a watchman.
Tells the other speaker to stop talking, typing etc. for a moment, often to allow clarification.
To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness. · To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment. · To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.) · To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
From Middle English waiten, from Anglo-Norman waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaitier, guaitier), from Frankish *wahtwēn (“to watch, guard”), derivative of Frankish *wahtu (“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”), German Low German wachten (“to wait”), Dutch wachten (“to wait, expect”), French guetter (“to watch out for”), Saterland Frisian wachtje (“to wait”), West Frisian wachtsje (“to wait”), North Frisian wachtjen (“to stand, stay put”). More at watch. In some senses, merged or influenced by Middle English waiten, weiten (“to do good to, lie in wait for, to contrive good or harm on, catch, snare”), from Old Norse veita (“to give help to, assist, grant, cause to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *waitijaną (“to show, guide, advise, direct”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”). Largely overtook native Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan, source of bide.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*weǵ-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionwaitenenm
- Cognate mentionguetterfr
- Cognate mentiongaitierfro
- Derivation mention*wahtwōgem-pro · guard, watch
- Derivation mention*weǵ-ine-pro · to be fresh, cheerful, awake
- Cognate mentionwahtēngoh
- Cognate mentionwachtennl
- Cognate mentionwachtjestq
- Cognate mentionwachtsjefy · to wait
- Cognate mentionwachtjenfrr
- Derivation mentionwaitenenm
- Derivation mentionveitanon · to give help to, assist, grant, cause to happen
- Derivation mention*waitijanągem-pro · to show, guide, advise, direct
- Derivation mention*weyd-ine-pro · to see, know
- Non-cognate comparisonbidenenm
- Non-cognate comparisonbīdanang
This page abbreviates 6 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*weǵ-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "waiten"
},
"expansion": "Middle English waiten"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "xno",
"3": "waiter"
},
"expansion": "Anglo-Norman waiter"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "guetter"
},
"expansion": "French guetter"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "gaitier"
},
"expansion": "Old French gaitier"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frk",
"3": "*wahtwēn",
"t": "to watch, guard"
},
"expansion": "Frankish *wahtwēn (“to watch, guard”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frk",
"3": "*wahtu",
"t": "guard, watch"
},
"expansion": "Frankish *wahtu (“guard, watch”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*wahtwō",
"t": "guard, watch"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“guard, watch”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*weǵ-",
"t": "to be fresh, cheerful, awake"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be fresh, cheerful, awake”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "wahtēn",
"3": "",
"4": "to watch, guard"
},
"expansion": "Old High German wahtēn (“to watch, guard”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "wachten",
"3": "",
"4": "to wait"
},
"expansion": "German Low German wachten (“to wait”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "wachten",
"3": "",
"4": "to wait, expect"
},
"expansion": "Dutch wachten (“to wait, expect”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "guetter",
"3": "",
"4": "to watch out for"
},
"expansion": "French guetter (“to watch out for”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "wachtje",
"3": "",
"4": "to wait"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian wachtje (“to wait”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "wachtsje",
"t": "to wait"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian wachtsje (“to wait”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "wachtjen",
"3": "",
"4": "to stand, stay put"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian wachtjen (“to stand, stay put”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "waiten"
},
"expansion": "Middle English waiten"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "veita",
"t": "to give help to, assist, grant, cause to happen"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse veita (“to give help to, assist, grant, cause to happen”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*waitijaną",
"t": "to show, guide, advise, direct"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *waitijaną (“to show, guide, advise, direct”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*weyd-",
"t": "to see, know"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "biden"
},
"expansion": "Middle English biden"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "bīdan"
},
"expansion": "Old English bīdan"
}
],
"links": [
[
"waiten",
"waiten#Middle_English"
],
[
"waiter",
"waiter#Old_French"
],
[
"waitier",
"waitier#Old_French"
],
[
"guetter",
"guetter#French"
],
[
"gaitier",
"gaitier#Old_French"
],
[
"guaitier",
"guaitier#Old_French"
],
[
"*wahtwēn",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wahtwēn"
],
[
"*wahtu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wahtu"
],
[
"*wahtwō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wahtwō"
],
[
"*weǵ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/weǵ-"
],
[
"wahtēn",
"wahten#Old_High_German"
],
[
"wachten",
"wachten#Low_German"
],
[
"wachten",
"wachten#Dutch"
],
[
"guetter",
"guetter#French"
],
[
"wachtje",
"wachtje#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"wachtsje",
"wachtsje#West_Frisian"
],
[
"wachtjen",
"wachtjen#North_Frisian"
],
[
"watch",
"watch#English"
],
[
"waiten",
"waiten#Middle_English"
],
[
"weiten",
"weiten#Middle_English"
],
[
"veita",
"veita#Old_Norse"
],
[
"*waitijaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/waitijaną"
],
[
"*weyd-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/weyd-"
],
[
"biden",
"biden#Middle_English"
],
[
"bīdan",
"bidan#Old_English"
],
[
"bide",
"bide#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A delay.",
"An ambush.",
"Ellipsis of wait state.",
"One who watches; a watchman."
],
"tags": [
"abbreviation",
"alt-of",
"ellipsis",
"obsolete"
],
"recordId": "69f14baa003fc293575969f0d0e3163831362914e2c01d910abb67a7fafbc060",
"rawRecordSha256": "5883589146cc28f3065da0f737e5519fd36f7b7b0912cbc55cde2b026cf4c4ba",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 191587
},
{
"pos": "intj",
"glosses": [
"Tells the other speaker to stop talking, typing etc. for a moment, often to allow clarification."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
],
"recordId": "8d8b26a1539c73067f5099b34e7c8ad185ce5e8a00b274fc1ccbb6b87180b23f",
"rawRecordSha256": "3f756376f495a9f9d6d8c130224bd305a0ca72e3afa46b87bbdf13ac0bb25cfb",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 191588
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.",
"To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.",
"To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)",
"To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive",
"US",
"stative",
"archaic",
"transitive",
"obsolete"
],
"recordId": "c6deb6edc5b10264d489bcbc3691956cc78662386af6a9cc8b78449bcd4c896a",
"rawRecordSha256": "80a202adca37f0ac93184bfbc6f0db6b96e0871478ce01c0afb3c1ca065fdaf4",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 191586
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 6,
"glosses": 0
}
}