From late 14th century Middle English waiter, wayter (“attendant, watchman”). By surface analysis, wait + -er. Sense of "servant who waits at tables" is from late 15th century, originally in reference to household servants; in reference to inns, eating houses, etc., it is attested from 1660s. Feminine form waitress first recorded 1834.
The London Stock Exchange sense harks back to the early days of trading in coffee-shops.
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waiter (plural waiters, feminine waitress)
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waiter (third-person singular simple present waiters, present participle waitering, simple past and past participle waitered)
waiter
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ts, *-tt are modified to z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | waiter | avoir waité | |||||
gerund | en waitant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
present participle | waitant | ||||||
past participle | waité | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
simple tenses |
present | wait | waites | waite | waitons | waitez | waitent |
imperfect | waitoie, waiteie, waitoe, waiteve | waitoies, waiteies, waitoes, waiteves | waitoit, waiteit, waitot, waiteve | waitiiens, waitiens | waitiiez, waitiez | waitoient, waiteient, waitoent, waitevent | |
preterite | waitai | waitas | waita | waitames | waitastes | waiterent | |
future | waiterai | waiteras | waitera | waiterons | waiteroiz, waitereiz, waiterez | waiteront | |
conditional | waiteroie, waitereie | waiteroies, waitereies | waiteroit, waitereit | waiteriiens, waiteriens | waiteriiez, waiteriez | waiteroient, waitereient | |
compound tenses |
present perfect | present tense of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior | preterite tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
simple tenses |
present | wait | waiz | wait | waitons | waitez | waitent |
imperfect | waitasse | waitasses | waitast | waitissons, waitissiens | waitissoiz, waitissez, waitissiez | waitassent | |
compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | waite | — | waitons | waitez | — |