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Definition 2024

Wat

Wat

See also: wat, WAT, wát, and Wät

English

Proper noun

Wat

  1. A medieval English given name, short for Walter.

See also

Anagrams

wat

wat

See also: WAT, Wat, wát, and Wät

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /wat/

Noun

wat ‎(plural wats)

  1. A Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia.
    There are two wats near this village.
    Angkor Wat
    • 1857, Sir John Bowring, The kingdom and people of Siam, volume 1, page 165:
      Having at last got past the crowd of boats, we advanced rapidly for two hours more, when we stopped at a wat, in order to give the men a rest.
    • 1982, Carlo Caldarola, Religions and societies, Asia and the Middle East, page 379:
      Aside from its religious function in the community, the wat also performs a large variety of social functions.
    • 1996, James Bissett Pratt, The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage, page 194:
      It would be a mistake, however, to emphasize the Hindu element in Cambodian Buddhism and Cambodian temples. At its greatest it is always a subordinate element and in most of the wats or temples it hardly appears at all, […]
    • 1999, Steve Van Beek; Luca Invernizzi, The arts of Thailand, page 15:
      It is often possible to discern the motivation or importance of a wat by examining its name
    • 2003, Joshua Eliot; Jane Bickersteth, Thailand handbook, page 268:
      The ubosoth is in a small enclosure just before the main entrance to the wat, on the right, which has fine gilded doors. The wat has a small museum.
Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Amharic [Term?].

Noun

wat

  1. A kind of stew or curry eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Etymology 3

Variation of what.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: wŏt, IPA(key): /wɒt/
  • Homophones: watt, what
  • Rhymes: -ɒt

Pronoun

wat

  1. (informal, Internet, text messaging) Alternative spelling of what

Adverb

wat ‎(not comparable)

  1. (informal, Internet, text messaging) Alternative spelling of what

Determiner

wat

  1. (informal, Internet, text messaging) Alternative spelling of what

Etymology 4

Origin unclear; possibly from what.

Adverb

wat ‎(not comparable)

  1. (Singlish) Used to contradict an underlying assumption held by the interlocutor.

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch wat, from Middle Dutch wat, from Old Dutch wat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód, *kʷod.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vat/

Pronoun

wat

  1. what (interrogative pronoun)
  2. what (relative pronoun)
  3. which (interrogative pronoun)
  4. which (relative pronoun)
  5. that (relative pronoun)

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋɑt/
  • Rhymes: -ɑt

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wat, from Old Dutch wat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód, *kʷod, compare West Frisian wat, English what, German was, Danish hvad.

Pronoun

wat

  1. (interrogative) what: e.g. (1) asking for a subject complement; (2) asking for a sentence object
    (1) Wat is dat? — What is that?
    (2) Wat wil je doen? — What do you want to do?
  2. (relative) what: e.g. (1) as the object of a sentence; (2) ditto
    (1) Ik weet niet wat ik wil doen. — I don't know what I want to do.
    (2) Jij moet afblijven van wat jij daar ziet. — You must not touch what you see there.
  3. (relative) that: e.g. (1) modifying an indefinite pronoun like iets, niets, alles or het enige; (2) modifying an adjective that is used as a noun, usually a superlative
    (1) Geef mij maar alles wat eetbaar is. — Please give me everything that is edible.
    (2) Het duurste wat er was. — The most expensive that there was.
  4. (relative) which: e.g. (1) modifying the demonstrative pronouns dat and datgene; (2) referring back to an entire sentence
    (1) Hij nam precies datgene wat ik had gewild — He took exactly that which I had wanted.
    (2) Jantje deed het in z’n broek, wat zijn moeder in verlegenheid bracht. — John did it in his pants, which embarrassed his mother
  5. (indefinite) something: e.g. (1) as subject; (2) as subject complement
    (1) Daar loopt wat rond. — Something there is walking around.
    (2) Dat is aardig wat! — That is quite something! [i.e. "That is quite a lot!"]

Usage notes

This pronoun can combine with a preposition to form a pronominal adverb. When this occurs, it is changed into its adverbial/locative counterpart waar. See also Category:Dutch pronominal adverbs.

A subclause following the relative pronoun wat is in SOV order.

Determiner

wat

  1. some
    Ik wil graag wat kersen.
    I want some cherries please.

Adverb

wat

  1. a bit, somewhat
    Hij doet dat wat onbedachtzaam.
    He does that somewhat unthoughtfully.

German

Etymology

Central Franconian form of standard was. Adopted from the dialects into colloquial standard German. Its retention in Central Franconian was likely due to Dutch, Limburgish and Low German influence, as the area around Cologne and north of it was where speakers of all these languages met for business.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vat/
  • Homophone: Watt
  • Rhymes: -aːt

Pronoun

wat

  1. (colloquial, regional) Alternative form of was
    Wat überlegste?
    What are you thinking?

Usage notes

  • Although found in the native dialects throughout northern and western Germany, the use of wat in colloquial standard German is most typical of the West (chiefly North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate). It is also heard in some parts of northern and north-eastern Germany, e.g. in and around Berlin. In all these regions, the forms wat and was are used in free variation.

References

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vaːt/ (stressed)
  • IPA(key): /vɑt/ (unstressed)
  • Rhymes: -aːt, -ɑt

Pronoun

wat

  1. (interrogative) what
    Wat ass däin Numm?
    What is your name?
  2. (relative) what
    Ech weess net, wat ech maache soll.
    I don't know what I should do.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch wat, from earlier *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wat/

Pronoun

wat

  1. what

Descendants

Middle English

Etymology 1

Uncertain; possibly from wight.

Noun

wāt

  1. A person.

Etymology 2

Uncertain.

Noun

wat

  1. A rabbit.
  2. A hare.

Etymology 3

See entries.

Verb

wat

  1. Alternative form of wait, wath, wet, what, whate, whete, witen, wode, wold, woth, weten, wacche, wacchen, wachet, watchinges, wate, walte, weiten, witien.

References

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wat/

Etymology

From Old Saxon hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat.

Pronoun

wat ‎(accusative wēne or wen, dative wēme or wem, genitive wes)

  1. (interrogative, neuter) what

Old Dutch

Etymology

From earlier *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód, *kʷod.

Pronoun

wat

  1. what

Descendants

  • Middle Dutch: wat

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wadą, whence also Old English wæd, Old Norse vað (Icelandic vað).

Noun

wat n

  1. ford

Polish

Noun

wat m inan

  1. watt

Declension

Portuguese

Noun

wat m (plural wats)

  1. wat (a type of Buddhist temple common in Southeast Asia)

Transylvanian Saxon

Adverb

wat

  1. what (interrogative)

Vilamovian

wat (1)

Etymology

Dutch watten

Noun

wat f

  1. cotton wool

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian hwet, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód, *kʷod (compare Dutch wat, English what, German was, Danish hvad).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɔt/

Adverb

wat

  1. what (interrogative only)
    Wat sizze hja?‎
    What are they saying?

See also

Etymology

Borrowing from Thai วัด ‎(wát).

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