waytez

v. (pres. 3 sg.)

(1) ‘looks’; (2) ‘treats (him) with anger, i.e. behaves angrily’

(Modern English wait)

Etymology

Though probably from Fr, an alternative identification has been proposed for the v. at Gaw 2289 (‘And waytez as wroþely as he wode were’), which would require derivation from ON: (1) Most subsequent editors and commentators follow Madden in identifying waytez with ME waiten v. (in MED’s sense (1a), ‘to direct one's gaze, look; gaze (out a window or cave opening)’), which is used elsewhere in Gaw and makes excellent sense in context. ME waiten derives from AF and/or northern OFr wait(i)er ‘to watch over, keep an eye on, safeguard’, < a Gmc v. formed on PGmc *waxt-, cp. OHG wahtēn ‘to watch, guard’, ult. < the PGmc root *wak-. (2) GDS (2289n) objects to the use of ME waiten in this sense (arguing that ME waiten always means ‘to watch, search, look out (for)’), and instead identifies waytez with ME weiten (‘to cause (sb.) to suffer (ruin, shame, etc.); contrive (injury) against (sb.), inflict (harm) on (sb.); do (sb. a bad turn)’ etc.) which derives from ON, cp. OIcel veita ‘to grant, give’ (cp. OFris wēta ‘to claim, testify’, OHG weizen ‘to show, prove’) < PGmc *waitjan-, a causative formation on the pret-pres. v. *witan- ‘to know’. However, his consequent translation in context as ‘treats (him) with anger’ strains the known usage of ME weiten, while MED has citations of waiten (sense (1a)) in the context of people looking around themselves which is closer to the sense required by the context in Gaw.

PGmc Ancestor

(1) *waxt-; (2) *waitjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

(2) veita ‘to grant, give’
(ONP (2) veita (2) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

(2) Far veita, Icel veita, Norw veita, OSw veta

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

[ON /ei/ < PGmc */ai/] (may not be applicable)

Summary category

DD2

Attestation

(1) ME waiten is attested earliest in the sense ‘to plot; lie in wait for’, from the early13c. Meaning ‘to look’, it is widespread from the early 14c. onwards. (2) Other than in a surname from the late 13c., MED cites no instances of ME weiten before the early 14c. It is predominantly N/EM, though with some occurrences further afield (inc. William of Palerne and the Winchester Malory).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2289

Bibliography

MED waiten (v.) (sense 1a) , Dance waytez; (1) OED wait (v.1) , AND gaiter, DEAF gaitier (v.), FEW (Germanismes) *wahta; (2) MED weiten (v.) , OED wait (v.2) , de Vries veita (1), Mag. veita (3), Seebold wait, Orel *waitjanan