await

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishawaiten,fromOld Northern Frenchawaitier(“to lie in wait for, watch, observe”),originally especially with a hostile sense; itself froma-(“to”)+waitier(“to watch”).More atEnglishwait.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/əˈweɪt/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-eɪt

Verb

await(third-person singular simple presentawaits,present participleawaiting,simple past and past participleawaited)

1. (transitive,formal)Towait for.

   Iawaityour reply to my letter.

   • 1674,John Milton,“Book IV”, inParadise Lost:

     Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, / Chief of the angelic guards,awaitingnight;

   • 1897December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill,chapter II, inThe Celebrity: An Episode,New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company;London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:

     I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrarawaitingme in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.

   • 2024April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, inRAIL,number1007,page57:

     After 170416 heads into the bay platform (2) to be prepared for its next trip to 'Skeggy', there's time to grab a coffee andawaitthe arrival ofRAIL'snext train - the 1144 Leicester-Grimsby Town.

2. (transitive)Toexpect.
3. (transitive)To bein storefor; to bereadyorin waitingfor.

   Glorious rewardsawaitthe good in heaven; eternal sufferingawaitsmortal sinners in hell.

   • 1900,Charles W. Chesnutt,chapter I, inThe House Behind the Cedars:

     Standing foursquare in the heart of the town, at the intersection of the two main streets, a "jog" at each street corner left around the market-house a little public square, which at this hour was well occupied by carts and wagons from the country and empty draysawaitinghire.

   • 1674,John Milton,“Book XI”, inParadise Lost:

     O Eve, some further changeawaitsus nigh.

4. (transitive,intransitive)Toserveorattend;towait on,wait upon.
5. (intransitive)Towatch,observe.
6. (intransitive)To wait; to stay in waiting.

Usage notes

• Asawaitmeansto wait for,it is not followed by "for".*I am awaiting for your replyis therefore incorrect.

Synonyms

• (wait for):wait for,anticipate,listen(of a sound); See alsoThesaurus:wait for
• (serve or attend):attend to,service;See alsoThesaurus:serve

Derived terms

• awaitable
• awaiter
• awaitment
• reawait

Translations

transitive: to wait for

• Afrikaans:wag
• Albanian:pres(sq)
• Arabic:اِنْتَظَرَ(ar)(intaẓara),اِسْتَأْنَى(ar)(istaʔnā)

  Egyptian Arabic:استنى(estanna)

  Moroccan Arabic:تسنى(tsanna),استنى(stanna),ساين(sāyin),عاين(ʕāyin),سانى(sāna)

  South Levantine Arabic:استنى(istanna)

• Armenian:սպասել(hy)(spasel)
• Azerbaijani:gözləmək(az)
• Bashkir:көтөү(kötöw)
• Belarusian:чака́цьimpf(čakácʹ),ждацьimpf(ždacʹ)
• Bengali:অপেক্ষা করা(bn)(opekkha kora)
• Bulgarian:ча́кам(bg)impf(čákam),оча́квам(bg)impf(očákvam)
• Catalan:esperar(ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Chờ đợi(zh)(děngdài),Chờ(zh)(děnghòu),Chờ(zh)(děng),Chờ(zh)(hòu)

• Czech:očekávat(cs)impf,čekat(cs)impf
• Danish:afvente
• Dutch:verwachten(nl),wachten op(nl),afwachten(nl)
• Esperanto:atendi
• Estonian:ootama
• Finnish:odottaa(fi)
• French:attendre(fr)
• Galician:agardar(gl)
• Gallurese:asittà
• Georgian:დალოდება(dalodeba)
• German:erwarten(de),harren(de),warten auf(de),abwarten(de)
• Gothic:𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌽(beidan)(with genitive)
• Greek:

  Ancient:προσμένω(prosménō),προσδέχομαι(prosdékhomai)

• Hebrew:לְחַכּוֹת(lekhakot),לְהַמְתִּין(lehamtin)
• Hindi:इंतज़ार करना(intazār karnā)
• Hungarian:vár
• Icelandic:bíða(is)
• Ido:vartar(io)
• Indonesian:menunggu(id),tunggu(id)
• Ingrian:ootella
• Italian:aspettare(it),attendere(it)
• Japanese:Đãi つ(ja)(まつ, matsu)
• Kazakh:күту(kütu),тосу(tosu)
• Khmer:ចាំ(km)(jam),រងចាំ(rɔɔng jam)
• Korean:기다리다(ko)(gidarida)
• Kyrgyz:күтүү(ky)(kütüü)
• Lao:ລໍ(lǭ),ລໍຖ້າ(lǭ thā)
• Latin:opperior,expecto,exspecto,praestōlor,respecto
• Latvian:sagaidīt,gaidīt
• Lithuanian:laukti(lt)
• Macedonian:чекаimpf(čeka),очекуваimpf(očekuva)
• Magahi:𑂃𑂮𑂩𑂰⸱𑂞𑂰𑂍𑂪(asrā tākal),𑂃𑂮𑂩𑂰⸱𑂠𑂵𑂎𑂪(asrā dekhal),𑂉𑂖𑂹𑂔𑂰𑂩⸱𑂍𑂶𑂪(eñjār kail)
• Malay:mennungu,tunggu(ms)(literally“tunggu”)
• Maori:tauwhanga,tauhanga,tatari,whanga
• Mongolian:хүлээх(mn)(xüleex)
• North Frisian:(Föhr-Amrum)teew
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:avvente(no)

• Occitan:esperar(oc)
• Old French:atandre
• Persian:منتظر شدن(montazer šodan),منتظر... بودن(montazer-e... budan)
• Polish:czekać(pl)impf,oczekiwać(pl)impf
• Portuguese:esperar(pt),aguardar(pt)
• Punjabi:

  Shahmukhi:اُڈِیکݨا(uḍīkṇā)

• Quechua:suyai,şuyai
• Romanian:aștepta(ro)
• Russian:ждать(ru)impf(ždatʹ),подожда́ть(ru)pf(podoždátʹ),ожида́ть(ru)impf(ožidátʹ)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese:abettài,agguardai,aspettài

  Logudorese:appelidare,appittu,isettare,ispettare

• Sassarese:aipittà,aisittà
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:чекатиimpf,очекиватиimpf

  Roman:čekati(sh)impf,očekivati(sh)impf

• Slovak:čakaťimpf,očakávaťimpf
• Slovene:čakati(sl)impf
• Spanish:esperar(es),aguardar(es)
• Swahili:kungojea
• Swedish:invänta(sv),vänta(sv)
• Tagalog:maghintay
• Tatar:көтәргә(tt)(kötärgä)
• Thai:รอ(th)(rɔɔ)
• Turkish:beklemek(tr)
• Turkmen:garaşmak
• Ukrainian:чека́ти(uk)impf(čekáty),жда́тиimpf(ždáty),очі́куватиimpf(očíkuvaty)
• Urdu:انتظار کرنا(intazār karnā),منتظر ہونا(muntazir honā)
• Uzbek:kutmoq(uz)
• Venetan:aspetar,spetar
• Vietnamese:chờ đợi(vi),chờ(vi),đợi(vi)
• Walloon:ratinde(wa),rawårder(wa),atinde(wa)
• Zazaki:venderden,pawayen,poşeyen
• Zou:nga

transitive: to expect

• Armenian:սպասել(hy)(spasel)
• Bashkir:көтөү(kötöw)
• Bengali:অপেক্ষা করা(bn)(opekkha kora)
• Bulgarian:очаквам(bg)(očakvam)
• Catalan:esperar(ca)
• Czech:očekávat(cs)
• Dutch:verwachten(nl)
• Finnish:odottaa(fi),olettaa(fi)
• French:s’attendre à(fr)
• Ido:expektar(io)
• Latin:expecto,spero(la),spero(la),spero(la)
• Magahi:𑂃𑂣𑂵𑂒𑂹𑂓𑂰⸱𑂍𑂶𑂪(apecchā kail)
• Polish:oczekiwać(pl)
• Portuguese:esperar(pt)
• Romanian:aștepta(ro)
• Russian:ожида́ть(ru)impf(ožidátʹ)
• Spanish:esperar(es),aguardar(es),esperarse(es)
• Walloon:s' atinde a

transitive: to be in store for

• Dutch:klaarliggen(nl),liggentewachten
• Finnish:odottaa(fi)
• Polish:czekać(pl),oczekiwać(pl)
• Portuguese:esperar(pt)
• Russian:ожида́ть(ru)impf(ožidátʹ)

to serve

• Bulgarian:обслу́жвам(bg)impf(obslúžvam)
• Dutch:bedienen(nl),dienen(nl)
• Finnish:tarjoilla(fi),palvella(fi)
• French:servir(fr)
• Italian:servire(it)
• Portuguese:servir(pt)
• Romanian:a servi masa
• Russian:обслу́живать(ru)impf(obslúživatʹ),обслужи́ть(ru)pf(obslužítʹ)

intransitive: to watch

• Finnish:odottaa(fi),tarkkailla(fi)
• French:guetter(fr)

intransitive, to stay in waiting

• Bengali:অপেক্ষা করা(bn)(opekkha kora)
• Bulgarian:очаквам(bg)(očakvam)
• Catalan:esperar(ca)
• Dutch:wachten op(nl)
• Finnish:odottaa(fi)
• French:attendre(fr)
• Magahi:𑂃𑂮𑂩𑂰⸱𑂡𑂩𑂪(asrā dharal),𑂃𑂮𑂩𑂰⸱𑂥𑂰𑂢𑂹𑂯𑂪(asrā bānhal)𑂥𑂱𑂪𑂧𑂪(bilmal)
• Portuguese:esperar(pt),aguardar(pt)
• Romanian:aștepta(ro)
• Zazaki:pawen

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch:^{(pleaseverify)}wachten op(nl)
• German:^{(pleaseverify)}warten auf(de),^{(pleaseverify)}bedienen(de)
• Old English:^{(pleaseverify)}ābīdan

Noun

await(pluralawaits)

1. (obsolete)A waiting for;ambush.
2. (obsolete)Watching,watchfulness,suspiciousobservation.
   • 1470–1485(date produced),Thomas Malory,“(please specify the chapter)”,in[Le Morte Darthur],book VII, [London:[…]byWilliam Caxton], published31 July 1485,→OCLC;republished as H[einrich]Oskar Sommer, editor,Le Morte Darthur[…],London:David Nutt,[…],1889,→OCLC:

     Also, madame, syte you well that there be many men spekith of oure love in this courte, and have you and me gretely inawayte,as thes Sir Aggravayne and Sir Mordred.

     (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)

   • 1596,Edmund Spenser,“Book VI, Canto VI”, inThe Faerie Queene.[…],London:[…][John Wolfe] forWilliam Ponsonbie,→OCLC:

     For all that night, the whyles the Prince did rest […] He watcht in closeawaytwith weapons prest […].

Anagrams

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