To wait is to stay in one place or delay doing something until a particular time or event; a wait is the period of time you spend doing this.
From Old Northern French “waiter,” meaning “to watch,” from a Germanic root meaning “to guard.” It originally meant watching or keeping guard before it focused on delaying action.
Waiting feels passive, but your brain is actively counting, predicting, and sometimes worrying the whole time. How long a “short wait” feels depends more on your emotions and distractions than on the actual minutes.
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