different between wait vs dwell
wait
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)
- (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 (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)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.
- (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.
- (intransitive, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
- (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.
- (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
- (obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
- to wait dinner
- (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
- 1957,Dagny Taggart and Francisco d'Anconia, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
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)
- A delay.
- I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
- An ambush.
- They lay in wait for the patrol.
- (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
- (in the plural, obsolete, Britain) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
- (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
- white
Gothic
Romanization
wait
- Romanization of ????????????????
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From English white.
Adjective
wait
- white
Westrobothnian
Alternative forms
- weit
Etymology
From Old Norse hveiti.
Noun
wait n (definite singular waite)
- wheat (Triticum)
- wheat bread
wait From the web:
- what waits in the woods
- what waits in the water
- what waits below
- what wait a minute
- what waits in the water movie
- what waits in the woods movie
- what waits for no man
- what waits in the woods summary
dwell
English
Etymology
From Middle English dwellen (“delay, hinder, detain; linger, remain”), from Old English dwellan (“to mislead, deceive; be led into error, stray”), from Proto-Germanic *dwaljan? (“to hold up, delay; hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?welH- (“to whirl, swirl, blur, obfuscate”), which is cognate with Old Norse dvelja and related to Proto-Germanic *dwelan? (“to go astray”), which underwent semantic change in its descendants. Cognates include Danish dvæle (“to linger, dwell”) and Swedish dväljas (“to dwell, reside”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: dw?l, IPA(key): /dw?l/
- Rhymes: -?l
Noun
dwell (plural dwells)
- (engineering) A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.
- (engineering) A brief pause in the motion of part of a mechanism to allow an operation to be completed.
- (electrical engineering) A planned delay in a timed control program.
- (automotive) In a petrol engine, the period of time the ignition points are closed to let current flow through the ignition coil in between each spark. This is measured as an angle in degrees around the camshaft in the distributor which controls the points, for example in a 4-cylinder engine it might be 55° (spark at 90° intervals, points closed for 55° between each).
Verb
dwell (third-person singular simple present dwells, present participle dwelling, simple past and past participle dwelt or (mostly US) dwelled)
- (intransitive, now literary) To live; to reside.
- 1622, Henry Peacham (Jr.), The Compleat Gentleman
- I am fully resolved to go dwell in another house.
- 1871, Charles John Smith, Synonyms Discriminated: A Complete Catalogue of Synonymous Words in the English Language
- The poor man dwells in a humble cottage near the hall where the lord of the domain resides.
- 1622, Henry Peacham (Jr.), The Compleat Gentleman
- (intransitive) To linger (on) a particular thought, idea etc.; to remain fixated (on).
- (intransitive, engineering) To be in a given state.
- (intransitive) To abide; to remain; to continue.
- 1802, William Wordsworth, Milton!-
- Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart.
- 1802, William Wordsworth, Milton!-
Synonyms
- (live, reside): See also Thesaurus:reside
Derived terms
- bedwell
- indwell
Related terms
- dwelling
- dwell on, dwell upon
Translations
See also
- abide
- live
- reside
- stay
References
- dwell in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- dwell in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Maltese
Etymology
From Italian duello, from Latin duellum.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dw?ll/
Noun
dwell m (plural dwellijiet or dwelli)
- duel
Derived terms
- ddwella
dwell From the web:
- what dwelling means
- what dwelling coverage means
- what dwells in the depths of my trailer
- what dwelling insurance cover
- what dwells within lyrics
- what dwelling is worthy of kraff
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