wave

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
  2. noun a movement like that of a sudden occurrence or increase in a specified phenomenon
  3. noun (physics) a movement up and down or back and forth

Etymology

From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”), from Proto-West Germanic *wabōn, from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to wander, sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to move to and from, wander”). Cognate with Middle High German waben (“to wave”), German wabern (“to waft”), Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). See also waver.

In classic literature

Synonyms

moving ridge

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