hesitate

Meaning

  1. (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
  2. (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
  3. (poetic, rare, transitive) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.

Frequency

C1
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈhɛz.ɪ.teɪt/
Etymology

Borrowed from Latin haesitātus, perfect passive participle of haesitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), intensive of haereō (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”). Displaced native Old English wandian. Compare French hésiter.

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