Wait meaning and variations

The word 'Wait," anciently spelled Wayghte or Wayte, is derived from the old high German wahten (to keep watch); it is common in the sense of guard or watchman to all the Teutonic languages, the German wacht, Dutch vaght, Swedish vakt and English watch. When used as a verb, its meaning is "to stay in expectation of"; as a noun, it denotes a minstrel watchmen.
When surnames were generally introduced into England in the eleventh century, those who held an office in most cases added its designation to their Christian names, thus: Richard, the minstrel-watchman, who was known as Richard le (the) Wayte, afterward contracted to Richard Wayte. The name has since been spelled Wayte, Wavt, Wayght, Waight, Wait, Waitt, Waite, Wate, Weight, Waiet, etc.

Notable people include

Wait

* Benjamin Wait (1813–1895), Canadian businessman and author *

Daniel Guilford Wait Daniel Guildford Wait (1789–1850) was an English clergyman, Hebrew scholar and religious writer. Life He was the son of Daniel Wait of Bristol. He matriculated from University College, Oxford, on 20 October 1809, and moved over to St. John's ...

(1789–1850), English clergyman, Hebrew scholar and religious writer * Georgiana Claudie Wait,

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

actress * Harry Wait (1891–1975), English footballer *

James R. Wait James R. Wait was a Canadian electrical engineer and Engineering physics, engineering physicist.John T. Wait (1811–1899), U.S. Representative from Connecticut *

John Wait McGauvran John Wait McGauvran (c. 1827 – July 20, 1884) was a merchant and political figure in Quebec. He represented Montréal-Ouest in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1873 to 1878 as a Conservative. He was born in Glengarry County, Upper ...

(1827–1884), merchant and political figure in Quebec *

Norman Wait Harris Norman Wait Harris (August 15, 1846 – July 15, 1916) was an American banker. He founded Chicago-based N.W. Harris & Co., the predecessor of Harris Bank as well as its affiliate Harris, Forbes & Co. and later Harris, Hall & Co. Biography Harri ...

(1846–1916), American banker *

Phoebe Jane Babcock Wait Phoebe Jane Babcock Wait (September 30, 1838 – January 30, 1904) was an American physician. Early life Phoebe Jane Babcock Wait was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, on September 30, 1838. She was one of a family of eight daughters and three so ...

(1838–1904), American physician *

Ronald A. Wait Ronald A. Wait (April 15, 1944 – December 2024) was an American politician who was a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 69th district from 1995 to 2011. He previously served as a member in the Illinoi ...

(1944–2024), American politician in Illinois * Samuel Wait (1789–1867), baptist minister and first president of Wake Forest University *

Wait Winthrop Waitstill Winthrop (27 February 1642 – 7 November 1717) was a colonial magistrate, military officer, and politician of New England. Early life Winthrop was born on 27 February 1642 in Boston, the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He wa ...

(1641–1717), colonial magistrate, military officer, and politician of New England *

William Bell Wait William Bell Wait (1839–1916) was a teacher in the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind who invented New York Point, a system of writing for the blind that was adopted widely in the United States before the braille system was univ ...

(1839–1916), teacher in the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind

Waitt

Charlie Waitt Charles C. Waitt (October 14, 1853 – October 21, 1912), born in Hallowell, Maine, was a professional baseball player who played a total of four professional baseball season (sports), seasons. Waitt played in an era when baseball had many diffe ...

(1853–1912), professional baseball player *

Chris Waitt Christopher Martyn Preston Waitt (born 8 February 1971) is an English independent filmmaker, musician and writer from the seaside town of Worthing, England. Films and television After an unsuccessful career as a rock musician, Waitt began to writ ...

(born 1974), independent filmmaker, musician and writer * Maude C. Waitt, former member of the Ohio Senate *

Mick Waitt Michael Hugh Waitt (born 25 June 1960) is an English football player and coach, who managed the New Zealand national football team. Waitt played in the Football League for Notts County and Lincoln City FC. He took charge of the New Zealand nat ...

, association football coach who managed the New Zealand national football team *

Richard Waitt Richard Waitt (24 January 1684 - 1732) was a Scottish painter. Life His parents were Thomas Waitt (born c. 1665) from Scotland; and Marie Birrell (born c. 1670) from Scotland. Richard Waitt was born on 24 January 1684 in Canongate, Edinburgh. ...

(died 1732), Scottish painter *

Ted Waitt Theodore William "Ted" Waitt (born January 18, 1963) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Waitt is a co-founder of Gateway, Inc.

(born 1963), American billionaire, co-founder of Gateway, Inc

Weight

Carel Weight Carel Victor Morlais Weight, (10 September 1908 – 13 August 1997) was an English painter. Biography Weight was born in Paddington in 1908. His father was a bank cashier and his mother, who was of Swedish and German descent, was a chirop ...

, a British artist *

Doug Weight Douglas Daniel Weight (born January 21, 1971) is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive, and former player. He is also the former head coach and assistant General manager (ice hockey), general manager for the New York Islanders. Dur ...

, an American ice hockey player *

Greg Weight Greg Weight (born 2 December 1946 in Sydney, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasma ...

, an Australian photographer

Waite

Arthur Edward Waite Arthur Edward Waite (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942) was a British poet and scholarly Mysticism, mystic who wrote extensively on occult and Western esotericism, esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider–Waite Tarot (also called th ...

, occultist and co-creator of the Rider-Waite tarot deck *

Arthur Waite (racing driver) Colonel Arthur Cyril Roy Waite Military Cross, MC., Venerable Order of Saint John, OSt.J., Deputy lieutenant, DL., JP., (1894–1991) was an Australian racing driver. Born in Adelaide, Arthur Waite served at Gallipoli Campaign, Gallipoli and was ...

, Australian racing driver * Catharine Van Valkenburg Waite, United States author, lawyer and women's suffrage activist. *

David Waite David Waite (born 30 May 1951) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He has also coached Great Britain in the Rugby League Tri-Nations. Background Waite was born in New South Wales, Australia. Waite holds a British passpo ...

, Australian rugby league coach *

Edgar Ravenswood Waite Edgar Ravenswood Waite (5 May 1866 – 19 January 1928) was a British/Australian zoologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and ornithologist. Waite was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, count ...

, Australian zoologist * Harold Roy Waite (1884-1978), American aviator *

Jimmy Waite James Dean Waite (born April 15, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender. He currently serves as the goaltending coach for the Chicago Blackhawks. Playing career Waite was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec. As a youth, he ...

, ice hockey goaltender *

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English rock singer and musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You (John Waite song), Missing You", which reached No. 1 on th ...

, British rock singer *

John Waite (cricketer) John Henry Bickford Waite (19 January 1930 – 22 June 2011) was a South African cricketer who played in fifty Tests from 1951 to 1965. He was born in Johannesburg, Transvaal, and educated at Hilton College and Rhodes University. A right-hand ...

, South African wicketkeeper–opening batsman * John Musgrave Waite (1820-1884), Victorian fencing master *

Morrison Waite Morrison Remick "Mott" Waite (November 29, 1816 – March 23, 1888) was an American attorney, jurist, and politician from Ohio who served as the seventh chief justice of the United States from 1874 until his death in 1888. During his tenure ...

, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1874–1888 *

Ralph Waite Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his lead role as John Walton Sr. on ''The Waltons'' (1972–1981), which he occasionally directed. He later had recurring roles as two other heroic fathers ...

(1928–2014), American actor, best known for the role of John Walton on the TV series ''The Waltons'' * Reginald Waite, Royal Air Force officer *

Terry Waite Sir Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is a British human rights activist and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of ...

, British humanitarian and author *

Thomas Waite (regicide) Thomas Waite, (died 1688 in Jersey) also known as Thomas Wayte was an English soldier who fought for Parliament in the English Civil War, a Member of Parliament for Rutland (UK Parliament constituency), Rutland, and one of the regicides of King ...

, English Member of Parliament and one of the regicides of King Charles I * Thomas Waite (Under-Secretary for Ireland), 1747–1774 *

Tommy Waite Thomas Waite (born 11 March 1972) is a Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citiz ...

(born 1972), Northern Irish boxer of the 1990s and 2000s *

Waite Hoyt Waite Charles Hoyt (September 9, 1899 – August 25, 1984) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for seven different teams during 1918–1938. He was one of the dominant pitchers of the 19 ...

, American baseball player

Wayte

* Mary Wayte, former competition swimmer * Anthony Wayte, the Archdeacon of Lewes from 1520 to 1527 * Billy Wayte, Canadian Football League, defensive back *

William Wayte William Wayte (4 September 1829 – 3 May 1898) was a Church of England cleric and a British chess master. He was one of a group of ministers who played a prominent role in English chess in the late nineteenth century. Although little remembe ...

, Church of England clergyman and a British chess master * Wayte Raymond, a numismatist

References

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