An obsolete form meaning to watch or observe; an archaic past tense or dialectal variant.
From Old English 'watian' (to watch) with the ā- prefix, or possibly related to 'await.' The form shows dialectal or archaic variations in verb forms.
Words like 'awat' show how completely some old verbs have vanished—'watch' itself had multiple forms, and regional variations meant some places kept 'awat' while others moved to other forms.
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