wave

English

/weɪv/

verb
Definitions
  • (intransitive) To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.
  • (intransitive) To move one’s hand back and forth (generally above the shoulders) in greeting or departure.
  • (transitive) To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
  • (intransitive) To have an undulating or wavy form.
  • (transitive) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
  • (transitive) To produce waves to the hair.
  • (intransitive) To swing and miss at a pitch.
  • (transitive) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.
  • (transitive) To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.
  • (intransitive) To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state.
  • (intransitive) To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English waven inherited from Old English wafian (wave, fluctuate, wonder, waver in mind, sway) inherited from Proto-Germanic *wabōną derived from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (weave, wander, move to and from, braid, move to and fro).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*webʰ-

Gloss

weave, wander, move to and from, braid, move to and fro

Concept
Semantic Field

Clothing and grooming

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms