待つ
Meaning in Englishwait
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
待つ (matsu) means to wait or remain in a state of expectation for someone, something, or an event to occur; it covers both physically staying in place until a person or time arrives and mentally anticipating an outcome, and is used whenever action is held until a condition is met.
Main meanings
- 1. To anticipate or expect an outcome or another person's action without immediate movement or change of state.
- 2. To remain on standby or hold in readiness for an event, signal, or instruction.
- 3. To postpone, defer, or suspend an action until a later moment or until conditions change.
- 4. An imperative/exclamatory use equivalent to "hold on" or "wait a moment" in casual speech.
How to use it
Used across registers—from casual conversation to formal speech—with polite conjugation for respectful contexts and plain forms for everyday use; commonly appears in continuous aspect to express ongoing waiting, in imperatives to ask someone to wait, and in compounds to describe systems or people who 'stand by' or 'await' events; applicable to physical lines, anticipated replies, technical standby states, and figurative delays.
Variants and close terms
- 待機する (taiki suru) — to stand by, to be on standby (more formal/technical).
- 待ち望む (machinobomu) — to long for, to await eagerly (stronger emotional nuance).
- 期待する (kitai suru) — to expect or hope for (emphasis on expectation rather than physical waiting).
- 急ぐ (isogu) — to hurry (antonym: opposite action to waiting).
Composition
- 待 (matsu) — left component 彳 conveys motion or step, right component 寺 originally denotes 'temple' and here contributes semantic/phonetic value; together the character evokes staying in place or awaiting at a location, giving the modern sense 'to wait'.
Etymology
待つ (matsu) descends from an Old Japanese root reconstructed as *matu; the phonetic form has been stable through classical and medieval stages of Japanese, showing regular sound developments within native Japonic vocabulary rather than borrowing from other languages.
Origin
The lexical item appears in early Japanese texts, including collections from the Nara and Heian periods, and has long been tied to social practices of waiting and hospitality; over centuries it remained a fundamental verb in daily life, administrative language, and literature as social rhythms like travel, petitions, and ceremonial timing required deliberate waiting.
Word class
verb (Godan verb, u-verb)