watch

watch
\ \ [OE] Ultimately, watch and wake are the same word. The two verbs share a common ancestor (prehistoric Germanic *wakōjan), and to begin with watch was used for ‘be awake’ (‘He sleepeth on the day and watcheth all the night’, John Lydgate, 1430). The notion of being ‘alert and vigilant’, of being ‘on the look-out’, is implicit in that of being ‘awake’ (indeed, vigil and vigilant are members of the same word family), but watch did not develop fully into ‘observe, look at closely’ until the 14th century.
\ \ The sort of watch that tells the time is probably so called not because you look at it to see what the time is, but because originally it woke you up. The earliest records of the noun’s application to a timepiece (in the 15th century) refer to an ‘alarm clock’; it was not used for what we would today recognize as a ‘watch’ until the end of the 16th century.
\ \ Cf.VEGETABLE, VIGIL, VIGOUR, WAFT, WAIT, WAKE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Watch — (w[o^]ch), n. [OE. wacche, AS. w[ae]cce, fr. wacian to wake; akin to D. wacht, waak, G. wacht, wache. [root]134. See {Wake}, v. i. ] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of watching; forbearance of sleep; vigil; wakeful, vigilant, or constantly observant… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • watch — [wäch, wôch] n. [ME wacche < OE wæcce < base of wacian: see WAKE1] 1. the act or fact of keeping awake, esp. of keeping awake and alert, in order to look after, protect, or guard 2. a) any of the several periods into which the night was… …   English World dictionary

  • Watch — Watch, v. i. [Cf. AS. w[oe]ccan, wacian. [root]134. See {Watch}, n., {Wake}, v. i. ] [1913 Webster] 1. To be awake; to be or continue without sleep; to wake; to keep vigil. [1913 Webster] I have two nights watched with you. Shak. [1913 Webster]… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • -watch — The noun watch, meaning ‘a state of alert’, first produced a suffix (or combining form) in the 1950s, and is known earlier in verbs such as firewatch (a term from the Second World War), but it is essentially a creation of the 70s (doomwatch) and… …   Modern English usage

  • watch — [n1] clock worn on body analog watch, chronometer, digital watch, pocket watch, stopwatch, ticker*, timepiece, timer, wristwatch; concept 463 watch [n2] lookout alertness, attention, awareness, duty, eagle eye*, eye*, gander, guard, hawk, heed,… …   New thesaurus

  • watch — ► VERB 1) look at attentively. 2) keep under careful or protective observation. 3) exercise care, caution, or restraint about. 4) (watch for) look out for. 5) (watch out) be careful. 6) maintain an interest i …   English terms dictionary

  • Watch — bezeichnet: Watch (Fernsehsender), britischer Fernsehsender The Watch, italienische Progressive Rock Gruppe Siehe auch Black Watch UN Watch Watch Island Watch Valley …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Watch — unix утилита, запускает и следит за программой через фиксированные интервалы времени. Если интервал не задан с помощью опции n , то команда будет запускаться каждые 2 секунды. Завершить программу можно с помощью нажатия соответствующих клавиш… …   Википедия

  • Watch — Watch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Watched}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Watching}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To give heed to; to observe the actions or motions of, for any purpose; to keep in view; not to lose from sight and observation; as, to watch the progress of a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • watch — watch  unix утилита, запускает и следит за программой через фиксированные интервалы времени. Если интервал не задан с помощью опции n, то команда будет запускаться каждые 2 секунды. Завершить программу можно с помощью нажатия соответствующих …   Википедия

  • Watch Me — «Watch Me» Sencillo de Shake It Up del álbum Break It Down Publicación 21 de junio de 2011 …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”