wait

Wait here until your car arrives.

They also serve who only stand and wait.

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:

Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait.

1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

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.

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:

The South London tramway replacement will have to wait, possibly five years, because of the slowing down of bus manufacture due to national requirements.

1948 March and April, “Notes and News: London Transport Plans”, in Railway Magazine, page 132:

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

She used to wait in this joint.

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

to wait one’s turn

Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing looks their promised guide.

The Court had assembled, to wait events, in the huge antechamber known as the Œil de Boeuf.

1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 30:

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 (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)

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

Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, / And everlasting anguish be thy portion.

1714, Nicholas Rowe, The Tragedy of Jane Shore:

(transitive, obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.

(obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.

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

1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina, Broadview, published 2004, page 185:

(obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).

(obsolete, except in phrases) To watch with malicious intent; to lie in wait

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."

1957, Dagny Taggart, Francisco d'Anconia, Ayn Rand's, Atlas Shrugged:

I will wait / Even if it takes forever / I will wait / Even if it takes a lifetime

(intransitive) To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.

en-verb

wait (third-person singular simple present waits, present participle waiting, simple past and past participle waited)

waits (present singular third-person)
waiting (participle present)
waited (participle past)
waited (past)

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.


wait

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

They lay in wait for the patrol.

an enemy in wait

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:

[…]as he returned home to his owne house, the waits should sound the hautboies all the way

1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XVII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:

(in the plural, obsolete, UK) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.

Hark! are the waits abroad?

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:

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.

[…] the waits begin their rounds, and going from house to house, […] they sing carols and Christmas hymns until […] another Christmas-day has dawned.[…]

1890, Algernon Blackwood, Christmas in England:

(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.]


wait

Wait. Stop talking for a moment while I get my head straight.

(informal) Tells the other speaker to stop talking, typing etc. for a moment.