To Wait On Someone Is Older Than to Wait For Them
A waiter serves at table. The verb wait first meant to watch or attend, and waiting for something came later.
A waiter serves food and drink at table. The job title is not about waiting around: the verb came from a Germanic root meaning to watch or be vigilant, and *to wait on* someone meant to attend them. The sense of waiting for something to happen developed afterwards. A night watchman and a waiter were once doing versions of the same thing.
- A person serving at table. *The waiter took the order.*
- Waitress — the feminine form. *A waitress cleared the plates.*
- Server — the American gender-neutral term. *Ask your server.*
- Wait on — to serve. *She waited on twelve tables.*
- Dumbwaiter — a small service lift. *Send it up in the dumbwaiter.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | wait | Wait here. |
| Agent | waiter | A head waiter. |
| Feminine | waitress | An experienced waitress. |
| Neutral | server | Our server tonight. |
| Compound | dumbwaiter | An old dumbwaiter. |
- The waiter recommended the fish.Restaurant.
- He waited on tables through university.The older construction.
- Wait for me at the corner.The modern sense.
Wait on or wait for?
- Wait for — to remain until something happens
- Wait on — to serve, in British English
- In American English wait on often means wait for as well
- Waiting room — where you wait for, not on
- Dumbwaiter — a lift that serves without speaking, hence dumb
Old North French *waitier*, to watch, from a Germanic root related to *wake*. The table-service sense is recorded from the 1400s.
Why is a service lift called a dumbwaiter?
Because it does a waiter's job without speaking. Dumb here means silent, the older sense of the word.
Should I say waiter or server?
Waiter and waitress remain standard in Britain. Server is the usual gender-neutral term in American restaurants.