different between wait vs demur

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) waight

Etymology

From Middle English waiten, wayten, from Old Northern French waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaitier, guaitier), from Frankish *waht?n, *wahtijan (“to watch, guard”), derivative of Frankish *wahta (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtw? (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Indo-European *we?- (“to be fresh, cheerful, awake”). Cognate with Old High German waht?n (“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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /we?t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /we?t/, [we???t]
• Rhymes: -e?t
• Homophone: weight

Verb

wait (third-person singular simple present 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 (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)

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

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

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

2. (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
   • Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait.

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

4. (transitive, obsolete) 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.

   • 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).

   to wait dinner

7. (intransitive) To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.
   • 1957,Dagny Taggart and 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

Usage notes

• In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (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):

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

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.
3. (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
4. (in the plural, obsolete, Britain) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

5. (in the plural, Britain) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]

   • 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.

Translations

Related terms

• wake
• watch

Anagrams

• WTAI

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse hvítr, from Proto-Germanic *hw?taz. Cognate with Swedish vit.

Adjective

wait

1. white

Gothic

Romanization

wait

1. Romanization of ????????????????

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English white.

Adjective

wait

1. white

Westrobothnian

Alternative forms

• weit

Etymology

From Old Norse hveiti.

Noun

wait n (definite singular waite)

1. wheat (Triticum)
2. wheat bread

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman demorer, from Old French demorer (French demeurer), from Vulgar Latin demoro, Latindemorari (“to tarry”), from de- + morari (“to delay”).

See alternative etymology in the Anglo-Norman ancestor.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: d?mûr?, IPA^(key): /d??m??/
• (General American) enPR: d?mûr?, IPA^(key): /d??m?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Distinguish from pronunciation of demure

Verb

demur (third-person singular simple present demurs, present participle demurring, simple past and past participle demurred)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To linger; to stay; to tarry
2. (intransitive) To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair.
   • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward the Sixth

     Vpon this rubbe the English Embassadors thought fit to demurre

3. (intransitive) To scruple or object; to take exception; to oppose; to balk

4. (intransitive, law) To interpose a demurrer.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about
6. (transitive, obsolete) To cause delay to; to put off
   • 1634, Francis Quarles, Emblems

     He demands a fee, / And then demurs me with a vain delay.

Related terms

• demurrage
• demurral
• demurrer

Translations

Noun

demur (plural demurs)

1. Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
   • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 132:

     Most geologists today would accept such evidence without demur, but it was still ‘fringe’ science when du Toit was publishing.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• MUDer, mured

Latin

Verb

d?mur

1. first-person plural present passive subjunctive of d?