Main Entry: ¹wake

Pronunciation: \ˈwāk\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): woke \ˈwōk\ also waked \wākt\; wo·ken \ˈwō-kən\ or waked also woke; wak·ing

Etymology: partly from Middle English waken (past wook, past participle waken), from Old English wacan to awake (past wōc, past participle wacen); partly from Middle English wakien, waken (past & past participle waked), from Old English wacian to be awake (past wacode, past participle wacod); akin to Old English wæccan to watch, Latin vegēre to enliven

Date: before 12th century

intransitive verb 1 a : to be or remain awake b archaic : to remain awake on watch especially over a corpse c obsolete : to stay up late in revelry
2 : awake —often used with uptransitive verb 1 : to stand watch over (as a dead body); especially : to hold a wake over
2 a : to rouse from or as if from sleep : awake —often used with up b : stir, excite <woke up latent possibilities — Norman Douglas> c : to arouse conscious interest in : alert —usually used with to <woke the public to the risks>

— wak·er noun