wayment

• waiment

From Middle English weymenten, waymenten, from Old Northern French waimenter (“to lament”) (compare Old French guaimenter, gaimenter (“to lament”)), a conflation of wai, guai (“woe”), from Frankish *wai, *wē (“woe”) from Proto-Germanic *wai (“woe”), and Latin lamentari (“to lament”). Akin to Old High German wē (“woe”) (German Weh "woe, pain"), Old English wā (“woe”). More at woe, lament.

wayment (third-person singular simple present wayments, present participle waymenting, simple past and past participle waymented)

1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To lament.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     For what bootes it to weepe and to wayment, / When ill is chaunst, but doth the ill increase […] ?

wayment

1. (obsolete) Lamentation; grief.
   • 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “The Ruines of Time”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. , London: William Ponsonbie, , →OCLC:

     And they, for pittie of the sad wayment

Contraction, especially reflective of a common African American Vernacular English pronunciation. Spelling very unlikely to have been influenced by Etymology 1.

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wayment

1. (slang, nonstandard, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Wait a minute.
   • 2018, Genevive Chamblee, Out of the Penalty Box:

     “Wayment. Hold up.” Christophe stopped drawing. “What the hell, Nicco? That's not a book.”
     “And 'wayment' is a word?” questioned Ramsey, chuckling at Christophe's pronunciation of “wait a minute.”

   • 2019 Jade Boren, Halle Berry & Lena Waithe Share A Passionate Kiss On ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Hollywood Life, 23 May 2019. Accessed 29 May 2019.

     “Wayment! she know you gotta girl??? I’m ready to fight!!!!!! Halle who!???” Ericka commented, referring to film production executive Alana Mayo, who became engaged to Lena during Thanksgiving in 2017.