waver
/ˈweɪvəɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.75 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To move without purpose or a specified destination; to roam, to wander.
Dated; Intransitive verb
verb
To sway back and forth, as if about to fall; to reel, to stagger, to totter.
Archaic; Intransitive verb
verb
To begin to weaken or show signs of weakening in resolve; to falter, to flinch, to give way.
Intransitive verb
verb
To feel or show doubt or indecision; to be indecisive between choices; to vacillate.
Intransitive verb
verb
Of a body part such as an eye or hand, or the voice: to become unsteady; to shake, to tremble.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Flowers wavered in the breeze."
- "There was neuer ſuche aſſemble made in Bretayne before⸝ for if the frenchmen were puyſſãt [puissant]⸝ in lyke wiſe ſo were the engliſſhmen⸝ and eche parte thought to fyght⸝ for euery day they ſhewed them ſelfe in the felde⸝ with baners and penons waueryng with the wynde⸝ it was great pleaſure to behold thẽ [them]."
- "Lord (ſayth he) Put them as a wheele and a ſtoble before the face of the wynde. For as the ſtoble, whyle the wynde bloweth wauereth and flyethe aboue in the ayre, nowe hygh nowe lowe, but anone as the wynde paſſeth it falleth adowne to the erthe and lyeth there ſtylle."
- "Thus many thinges commyng together, partly by chaunce ⁊ partly by purpoſe, cauſed at length, not common people onely, whiche wauer with the wynde, but wyſe men alſo ⁊ ſome lordes, to marke the matter and muſe thee vpon: […]"
- "The byrdes fliyng and wauoring in the ayer, in the ſtede of houſes haue neſtes to reſt them in. But the ſonne of man ſo is deſtitute of all ſuccours of this worlde, that he hath no place to laye his head in."
- "Theſe Penoncels are made of certain ſmal peeces of Taffeta or Sarcinet, cut after the forme of a Pennon, vvherevvith Martiall men doe oftentimes adorne their Speares and Launces, vvhich albeit of themſelues they be things of no moment, yet doe they very often (like as alſo Banners doe) aſtoniſh the Enemie through their continuall motion, foraſmuch as they are euermore vvafting and vvauering in the vvinde, vvhereby they doe ſo occupy the enemies eie as that it breedeth a terrour in the minde of their foes, […]"
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English waveren (“to move back and forth, swing; to move unsteadily, totter; to shake, tremble; to wander; (figurative) to be changeable or unstable; to deviate”), and then possibly: * from Old English (compare Old English wǣfre (“flickering, quivering, wavering; active, nimble (?)”)), related to Old English wafian (“to wave”) from Proto-West Germanic *wabbjan (“to cause to weave; to entangle; to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wabjaną (“to cause to weave; to entangle; to wrap”); and/or * from Old Norse vafra (“to move unsteadily, flicker”), probably related to vefa (“to weave”); both from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”). Doublet of wave. The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈweɪvəɹ/
- British English: /ˈweɪvə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
wavers (present, singular)
wavering (participle, present)
wavered (participle, past)
wavered (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
wavered (first person, past)
waverest (archaic, present)
wavered (past, second person)
waveredst (archaic, past)
wavereth (archaic, present)
wavered (past, singular)