Easily annoyed or upset when things do not happen quickly enough; unable to wait calmly.
From Latin 'impatiens' meaning 'not able to endure', from 'in-' (not) and 'pati' (to suffer, to endure). It moved through Old French 'impacient' into Middle English.
Being impatient is literally ‘not able to suffer/wait’. The root 'pati' is the same as in 'patient', 'patience', and even 'passion'—all about what you can endure. So impatience is less about time and more about your tolerance for discomfort.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.