wake

Meaning

Verb

1. (often followed by up) To stop sleeping.
2. (often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.
3. To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
4. To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
5. To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
6. To be or remain awake; not to sleep.
7. (obsolete) To be alert; to keep watch
8. (obsolete) To sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.

Noun

1. (obsolete) The act of waking, or state of being awake.
2. The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
3. A period after a person's death before or after the body is buried, cremated, etc.; in some cultures accompanied by a party and/or collectively sorting through the deceased's personal effects.
4. A yearly parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking.
5. A number of vultures assembled together.

Noun

1. The path left behind a ship on the surface of the water.
2. The movement of water created when an animal or a person moves through water.
3. The turbulent air left behind a flying aircraft.
4. The area behind something, typically a rapidly-moving object.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/weɪk/

Etymology

A merger of two verbs of similar form and meaning:
* Middle English waken, Old English wacan, from Proto-West Germanic *wakan, from Proto-Germanic *wakaną.
* Middle English wakien, Old English wacian, from Proto-West Germanic *wakēn, from Proto-Germanic *wakāną.