expect

expect
\ \ [16] Someone who expects something literally ‘looks out’ for it. The word comes from Latin expectāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and spectārelook’ (source of English spectacle, spectre, spectrum, and speculate). Already in Latin the literal ‘look out’ had shifted metaphorically to ‘look forward to, anticipate’ and ‘await’, meanings adopted wholesale by English (‘await’ has since been dropped).
\ \ Cf.ESPIONAGE, SPECTACLE, SPECULATE, SPY

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Expect — Тип инструмент для автоматизации и тестирования интерактивных приложений Разработчик Don Libes Написана на Tcl Операционная система Кроссплатформенное программное обеспечение Последняя версия 5.44.1 (31 января 2006 года) …   Википедия

  • Expect — Développeur Don Libes Dernière version …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Expect — Ex*pect , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Expected}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Expecting}.] [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See {Spectacle}.] 1. To wait for; to await. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Let s in, and there expect… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • expect — expect, hope, look, await are comparable when they mean to have something in mind as more or less certain to happen or come about. They vary, however, so greatly in their implications and in their constructions that they are seldom… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • expect — [ek spekt′, ikspekt′] vt. [L expectare, exspectare < ex , out + spectare, to look, freq. of specere, to see: see SPECTACLE] 1. to look for as likely to occur or appear; look forward to; anticipate [I expected you sooner] 2. to look for as due …   English World dictionary

  • expect — was the object of much criticism during the 19c when it was used to mean ‘to suppose, surmise’, as in I expect you d like a drink. Fowler, however, regarded it as a natural extension of meaning and wrote (1926) that ‘it seems needless purism to… …   Modern English usage

  • expect — [v1] believe strongly; anticipate apprehend, assume, await, bargain for, bargain on, be afraid, calculate, conjecture, contemplate, count on, divine, envisage, feel, figure, forecast, foreknow, foresee, gather, hope, hope for, imagine, in the… …   New thesaurus

  • Expect — Ex*pect , v. t. To wait; to stay. [Obs.] Sandys. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Expect — Ex*pect , n. Expectation. [Obs.] Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • expect — I (anticipate) verb await, bargain for, be certain, be confident, be prepared, calculate upon, count on, expectare, have in prospect, look for, look forward to, plan on, prepare for, provide for, reckon on, sperare, wait for, watch for associated …   Law dictionary

  • expect — 1550s, wait, defer action, from L. expectare/exspectare await, look out for, desire, hope, from ex thoroughly (see EX (Cf. ex )) + spectare to look, frequentative of specere to look at (see SCOPE (Cf. scope) (1)). Figurative sense of …   Etymology dictionary

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