English Meaning & Definitions
Pregnant; about to give birth.
- “She and her husband are expecting their first child in the spring.”
- “The expecting mother attended weekly prenatal yoga classes.”
Present participle of expect; regarding something as likely to happen or anticipated.
- “We are expecting a large turnout for the annual community festival.”
- “He was expecting a phone call from the hiring manager all afternoon.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “expecting”.
Derived from the verb 'expect', which comes from the Latin 'expectare' (to await, look out for), formed from 'ex-' (out) + 'spectare' (to look at, frequentative of specere). The colloquial adjectival use meaning 'pregnant' developed in the 17th century as a shortening of 'expecting a child'.
Think of someone looking out ('spect') toward the future with anticipation—either waiting for an event or 'expecting' a baby.
Frequently Asked Questions About “expecting”
1. What is the meaning of “expecting” in English?
In English, expecting (adjective) is defined as: “Pregnant; about to give birth.”.
2. How do you use “expecting” in a sentence?
“She and her husband are expecting their first child in the spring.”
3. What are English synonyms of “expecting”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “expecting”?
Derived from the verb 'expect', which comes from the Latin 'expectare' (to await, look out for), formed from 'ex-' (out) + 'spectare' (to look at, frequentative of specere). The colloquial adjectival use meaning 'pregnant' developed in the 17th century as a shortening of 'expecting a child'.
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A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.