await

Etymology

From Middle English awaiten, from Old Northern French awaitier (“to lie in wait for, watch, observe”), originally especially with a hostile sense; itself from a- (“to”) + waitier (“to watch”). More at English wait.

verb

1. (transitive, formal) To wait for.
   I await your reply to my letter.
   Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, / Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night; 1674, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost
2. (transitive) To expect.
3. (transitive) To be in store for; to be ready or in waiting for.
   Glorious rewards await the good in heaven; eternal suffering awaits mortal sinners in hell.
   Standing foursquare in the heart of the town, at the intersection of the two main streets, a "jog" at each street corner left around the market-house a little public square, which at this hour was well occupied by carts and wagons from the country and empty drays awaiting hire. 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars
   O Eve, some further change awaits us nigh. 1674, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost
4. (transitive, intransitive) To serve or attend; to wait on, wait upon.
5. (intransitive) To watch, observe.
6. (intransitive) To wait; to stay in waiting.

noun

1. (obsolete) A waiting for; ambush.
2. (obsolete) Watching, watchfulness, suspicious observation.