wait

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)

   the wait was an ordeal for him

2. 2
   verb

   serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant

   I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's

3. 3
   verb

   stay in one place and anticipate or expect something

   I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets

4. 4
   verb

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

   Wait here until your car arrives.

5. 5
   verb

   To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.

   She used to wait in this joint.

6. 6
   verb

   To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)

   to wait one’s turn

7. 7
   verb

   To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.

   He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.

8. 8
   verb

   To defer or postpone (especially a meal).

   Montague Thorold, who impatiently watched her wherever she went, came to tell her that his mother waited breakfast for her.

Etymology

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…