Wiktionary

waste

See also: wasté

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English wast, waste (“a waste”, noun), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast, waste (“a waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“a waste”), from Proto-Germanic *wōstaz,[1] *wōstuz,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”).

Displaced native Old English essian and strȳndan. Largely overtook Old English forspillan and weste.

Noun

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waste (countable and uncountable, plural wastes)

  1. Excess of material, useless by-products, or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
  2. Excrement or urine.
    The cage was littered with animal waste.
  3. A wasteland; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.
  4. A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
  5. A large tract of uncultivated land.
  6. (historical) The part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays treated as common land.
  7. A vast expanse of water.
  8. A disused mine or part of one.
  9. The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.
    That was a waste of time!
    Her life seemed a waste.
    • 2023 March 22, Mike Esbester, “Staff, the public and industry will suffer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 39:
      'Rebel railwaymen' at Birmingham New Street refused to wear the new uniforms on the grounds that they were a "complete waste of public money".
  10. Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used.
  11. Gradual loss or decay.
  12. A decaying of the body by disease; atrophy; wasting away.
  13. (rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; see "to lay waste".
  14. (law) A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect.
  15. (geology) Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the sea.
Derived terms
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terms derived from waste (noun)
Descendants
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  • → Japanese: ウエス (uesu)
  • → Wu: 違司／违司 (we⁶-sy¹)
Translations
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decaying of the body by disease — see also atrophy
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

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waste (comparative more waste, superlative most waste)

  1. (MTE, slang, derogatory) Useless and contemptible.
    • 2017 March 18, “Free Smoke”, in More Life, performed by Drake:
      Niggas moves so waste / Please, come outside the house and show yourself / So I can say it to your face
    • 2022 September 22, “ONTARIO PLACE”, in BADMAN, performed by Bert Le Plug:
      Waste / Don't talk to me / You're so waste
Derived terms
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terms derived from waste (adjective)

References

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  1. ^ Vladimir Orel (2003) “*wōstaz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 470
  2. ^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*wōstu-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 593: “*ueh₂s-tu-”

Etymology 2

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From Middle English wast, waste (“waste”, adjective), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wast (“waste”), from Frankish *wōstī (“waste, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty, wasted”). Cognate with Old High German wuosti, wuasti (“waste, empty”), German wüst, Old Saxon wōsti (“desolate”), Old English wēste (“waste, barren, desolate, empty”).

Adjective

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waste (comparative more waste, superlative most waste)

  1. (now rare) Uncultivated, uninhabited.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xvij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XIII (in Middle English):
      SOo whanne syr Galahad was departed from the castel of maydens / he rode tyl he came to a waste forest / & there he mette with syre launcelot and syr Percyuale but they knewe hym not / for he was newe desguysed / Ryghte so syr launcelot his fader dressid his spere and brake it vpon syr Galahad
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. Barren; desert; empty.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto III:
      ‘The stars,’ she whispers, ‘blindly run;
      ⁠A web is wov’n across the sky;
      ⁠From out waste places comes a cry,
      And murmurs from the dying sun: […]
    • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 255:
      For centuries the shrine at Mecca had been of merely local importance, far outshone by the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, whose cult Christians had in good measure renewed by their pilgrimage in honour of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, while leaving the actual site of the Jerusalem Temple dishonoured and waste.
  3. Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
    • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
      Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.
  4. Superfluous; needless.
  5. Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
  6. Unfortunate; disappointing. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Usage notes
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Same meanings as wasted.

Derived terms
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terms derived from waste (adjective)
Translations
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Etymology 3

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From Middle English wasten (“to waste, lay waste”), from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French waster (“to waste, devastate”) (compare also the variant gaster and French gâter from a related Old French word); the Anglo-Norman form waster was either from Frankish *wōstijan (“to waste”), from Proto-Indo-European *wāsto- (“empty, wasted”), or alternatively from Latin vastāre, present active infinitive of vastō and influenced by the Frankish; the English word was assisted by similarity to native Middle English westen ("to waste"; > English weest). Cognate with Old High German wuostan, wuastan, wuostjan (“to waste”) (Modern German wüsten), Old English wēstan (“to lay waste, ravage”).

Verb

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waste (third-person singular simple present wastes, present participle wasting, simple past and past participle wasted)

  2. (transitive) To devastate; to destroy.
    • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC:
      Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath wasted, / Art made a myrrour to behold my plight.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
      The Tiber / Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds.
  3. (transitive) To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.
    We wasted millions of dollars and several years on that project.
    • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], lines 812–813:
      I like this place, / And willingly could waste my time in it.
    • 1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], published 1753, →OCLC:
      Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
    • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
      A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. […] This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?
    • 1909, Francis Galton, Memories of my life, page 69:
      E. Kay (1822-1897), afterwards Lord Justice of Appeal, had rooms on the same staircase as myself, and we wasted a great deal of time together, both in term and in my second summer vacation. .
  4. (transitive, slang) To kill; to murder.
  5. (transitive) To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to deteriorate; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out.
  6. (intransitive) To gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.
  7. (intransitive) To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.
  8. (law) To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of waste
infinitive (to) waste
present tense past tense
1st-person singular waste wasted
2nd-person singular waste, wastest† wasted, wastedst†
3rd-person singular wastes, wasteth† wasted
plural waste
subjunctive waste wasted
imperative waste —
participles wasting wasted

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Terms derived from waste (verb)
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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waste

  1. inflection of wassen:
    1. singular past indicative
    2. (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Adjective

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waste

  1. Alternative form of wast (“waste (adjective)”)
  2. Inflection of wast (“waste (adjective)”):
    1. weak singular
    2. strong/weak plural

Etymology 2

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Noun

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waste

  1. Alternative form of wast (“waste (noun)”)

Etymology 3

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Adjective

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waste

  1. Alternative form of wast (“waist”)

Etymology 4

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Verb

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waste

  1. Alternative form of wast (verb form)

Etymology 5

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Verb

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waste

  1. Alternative form of wasten

Tocharian B

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

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waste ?

  1. refuge, sanctuary

West Flemish

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Etymology

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Noun derived from the verb wassen (“to wash”)

Noun

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waste f

  1. laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just have been washed.
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