expectantadj.n.
/ᵻkˈspɛkt(ə)nt/, /ɛkˈspɛkt(ə)nt/, U.S. /ɪkˈspɛkt(ə)nt/, /ɛkˈspɛkt(ə)nt/ A. adj.
1.
a. Expected or expecting to take up a position, office, etc. Occasionally as postmodifier, with preceding word specifying the office, as earl expectant, prince expectant, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adjective] > of a position
expectanta1393
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1712 (MED) As he that tho was apparant Upon the Regne and expectant.
1640 in J. Nicholson Minute Bk. War Comm. Covenanters Kirkcudbright 30 Sept. (1855) 57 The supplicatioun presentit by Johne Somervaill, expectant minister.
1661 H. Puleston Monarchiæ Britannicæ Singularis Protectio 24 Nor will this Edward..await anothers leasure, and prove expectant of a Crown in reversion, but immediately assumes it by the actual deposing of King Henry.
1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 319 The Earl expectant had somehow linked together the ideas of pleasure and pretty-girl-hood.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Calderon i. 5 A pious Catholic, expectant of the cardinal's hat.
1885 J. C. Ridpath Cycl. Universal Hist. II. i. 193/2 The ambassadors found their prince expectant netting finches in a valley near the Hartz.
1886 Law Times 82 94/2 An expectant occupier has a locus standi to apply for the renewal of a public-house licence.
1913 Minutes 35th Gen. Conf. Free Baptists 60 Scarcely any one can keep track of our expectant ministers.
2003 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 2 Nov. 14 In a week he has gone from..shadow chancellor to expectant leader of the opposition.
b. Expecting the birth of one's child, as expectant mother, expectant father, expectant parent, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [noun] > woman
pregnant1654
expectant mother1806
primigravida1884
multigravida1890
mother-to-be1899
secundigravida1903
parturient1955
primigravid1981
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [noun] > woman > father
expectant father1806
1806 La Belle Assemblée Aug. 362/1 Ask the expectant father what must be his sensations in such a situation?
1809 J. West Mother i. 16 Nature wisely bids Th' expectant mother to the quiet haunts Of ease and privacy.
1882 R. K. Douglas China iv. 87 The expectant mother's next desire is to discover of what sex her child will be.
1911 V. M. Clifton Pilgrims Isles Penance xvii. 174 During the time of pregnancy, both the expectant parents do no work, but visit about and feast with their friends.
1976 New Scientist 5 Aug. 298/1 She..is recruiting groups of expectant mums, to meet regularly near London.
2013 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 10 Nov. 42 There are countless times when expectant mothers arrange for a home birth, only to be called into the hospital because a midwife isn't available.
2. Awaiting or looking forward to something; characterized by or exhibiting a sense of anticipation. Frequently with of (in early use also for, on), specifying what is awaited or anticipated.In later use frequently with connotations of eager or nervous expectation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adjective]
expectanta1425
prevenient1765
anticipative1797
anticipant1798
contemplative1816
tense1821
prospective1850
at wait1873
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4571 Abide in hope..Expectant ay till I may mete.
a1500 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Adv.) in W. B. D. D. Turnbull Visions of Tundale (1843) 131 Symeon..That was expectaunt..On the comfort and consolacion Of Isrel.
1563 T. Becon Reliques of Rome (rev. ed.) lxv. f. 201 There are iii. Churches... The third is in Purgatory: and it is called, Ecclesia Expectans: that is, The Churche Expectant, and that loketh for and abydeth deliueraunce.
1642 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. xv. 65 The people are expectant for a Declaration.
1797 E. J. Eyre Poetic Ess. in Fatal Sisters 127 Hope leads Wish with an expectant hand.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. iii. 131 His dog..Now lifts an anxious and expectant eye Courting the wonted caress.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh iv. 167 Romney at the porch Looked out expectant of the bride.
1872 A. W. Hutton Our Position as Catholics 33 The Church Militant, the Church Expectant.
1911 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 5 534 The impatient demands of an unprepared democracy..expectant of prompt cures for complicated ills.
1947 A. Einstein Music Romantic Era xv. 215 The longer Chopin continued in his career, the more he avoided the concert podium and the expectant masses.
2009 K. A. Whitney Other Half of Life ii. 13 The band stopped and everyone waited in expectant silence.
3.
a. Assumed to be forthcoming (especially of a reward or benefit). In earlier use also as postmodifier.
ΚΠ
1569 in S. Haynes Coll. State Papers Ld. Burghley (1740) 581 Hir Mariadg expectant is a grete Furderance to hir Cause; which she may use to allure the good Wills of many strang Princes.
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 38 Partake not of some Easterne Tenants enuious dispositions, who will sooner preiudice their owne present thrift.., then aduance the Lords expectant benefit.
1670 T. Culpeper Necessity abating Usury 13 Upon the Encouragement of a long..lease, he..will be enabled to venture on Improvements chargeable and expectant.
1752 Villainy Unmask'd 1 Too dirty a Cause to meddle with, at a doubtful Hazard of an expectant Reward.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 429 We encourage ourselves to any..disagreeable task by prospect of the profit expectant therefrom.
1887 Railway News 12 Nov. 1091/2 A succession of heavy fills and rock cuts entailing unusual expense, with no other expectant rewards than it can secure in the handling of freights.
1913 Northwestern Reporter 142 651/1 [The] decedent by reason of his extreme old age undoubtedly lived in the thought of expectant death.
1997 E. Andreychuk Golden Corral 120 In the novel, Linus shares the expectant profit on his furs with Lilith so she can realize her own dreams.
b. Law. Of property: due to come to a person in reversion or remainder; reversionary; existing in expectancy. Also as postmodifier.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [adjective] > relating to inheritance > belonging to one in reversion or remainder
expectant1600
1600 H. Constable Discoverye Counterfecte Conf. 38 Some kinges..hauinge lawful issues.., haue..established the state expectant in their issue.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. 21 He hath..a fee simple expectant.
1712 Act 10 Anne c. 13 The Reversion of the said Premisses, Expectant upon the Determination of the several Estates before mentioned, became Vested in the said late Lord Griffin.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. iii. 209 On her..the remainder of the crown, expectant on the death of king William..without issue, was settled by statute.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. IV. 537 The right of the remainder-man, expectant on the determination of the estate tail.
1827 T. Jarman Powell's Ess. Learning of Devises (ed. 3) II. 111 The fee expectant on his wife's life estate.
1907 Law Student's Helper Jan. 21/1 A married woman is entitled to a reversion in fee simple in two properties, the one expectant on the determination of a life estate, the other on the expiration of a term of years.
1983 B. A. K. Rider Insider Trading ii. 70 The position has been made even more uncertain by some courts treating ‘expectant property’ as property already belonging to the company.
2006 Cambr. Law Jrnl. 55 350 Dispossession of the person who had held a limited interest in the land did not accelerate remainder interests which were expectant on his estate.
4. Esp. of medical treatment: reacting to (rather than anticipating) the course of nature or events; conservative with respect to intervention; supportive. Cf. expectation n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expectation, waiting > [adjective] > characterized by
waiting1553
wait and see1719
expectant1803
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > types of treatment generally > [adjective] > treatment by watching progress
expectant1803
1803 Crit. Rev. 39 583 If ‘expectant medicine’ be not openly professed, it is frequently practised: and the physician, in many instances, looks on, when he should act; observes, when he should interfere.
1816 R. Southey in Q. Rev. 16 513 Like the continental physicians, such statesmen would pursue the expectant system.
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. iii. 80 The policy of England continued to be expectant and dilatory.
1881 A. Flint Treat. Princ. Med. (ed. 5) 112 The treatment of a disease is expectant whenever the physician does not attempt to abridge or arrest it, but strives to aid in conducting it to a favorable termination.
1920 Lancet 3 Jan. 33/2 Up to the end of the year 1916 the expectant method of treating wounds which opened the pleural cavity was in vogue.
1993 D. C. Kennie Preventive Care Elderly People vii. 101 The expectant management for silent stones should not be confused with symptomatic stones for which operative intervention has traditionally and almost universally been recommended.
2012 Midwifery 28 733 Objective: to explore the views of expert midwives in Ireland and New Zealand of the skills they employ in expectant management of the third stage of labour.
B. n.
1. A person who expects something, esp. an arrival or event.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [noun] > one who expects or anticipates
expector1584
expectant1588
anticipator1598
expecter1610
anticiparian1641
expectaltee1654
1588 J. Harvey Discoursiue Probl. conc. Prophesies ii. 120 Must we be daily expectants of new Comets?
1664 H. More Apol. in Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 539 Eager Expectants of this great happiness.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. i. 323 Vain expectants of the bridal hour.
1762 S. Johnson Let. 8 June (1992) I. 204 Improper expectation..is such..raised not by the common occurrences of life but by the wants of the Expectant.
1834 New Sporting Mag. June 123/1 They are expected beforehand, wherever they go... And they never disappoint their expectants by not arriving.
1877 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea (ed. 6) V. i. 235 From moment to moment he was an expectant of death.
1923 St Andrew's Cross June 261/1 We stand as hopeful, happy expectants of better days for Arizona.
2001 R. Ford Multitude of Sins 98 Delivering news both welcome and unwelcome to all sorts of other expectants—clients, patients, partners, spouses, children.
2.
a. A candidate for a post or office; spec. (in Scotland) a candidate for the ministry who has not yet received a license to preach the gospel. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [noun] > one who expects or anticipates > an office or position
expectant1613
1613 in H. Paton Dundonald Parish Rec. (1936) 237 Coline Row and Mr Jhone Burne, exspectantis of the said Presbyterie.
1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 47 This..may give some liking to the present Incumbents, but not to the Expectants.
1721 Abridgm. Acts Gen. Assemblies Church of Scotl. 97 In the Trial of Expectants before their Entry to the Ministry.
1788 Scots Mag. Feb. 97 Came on before the High Court of Justiciary, the trial of Allan Macfarlane officer or expectant of excise.
1831 W. Hamilton in Edinb. Rev. June 397 A clerical expectant, whose hopes are bounded by a College living.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 295 Name whom he might, he could not fail to disappoint..a multitude of expectants.
1902 Westm. Mag. 12 June 10/1 There are some 15,000 old ‘expectants’ already in the field and only about 25,000 substantial posts.
2009 J. McCallum Reforming Sc. Parish (2010) v. 142 The experience gained simply by attending presbytery meetings as expectants, would have been a crucial part of preparation for the ministry.
b. A person expected to inherit or succeed to something; spec. (English Law) = expectant heir n. at Compounds. Also in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > heir in reversion
reversioner1614
reversionary1627
expectant1654
reversionist1809
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iii. ix. 128 This puts..the Expectant, to fresh charge.
1675 tr. W. Camden Hist. Princess Elizabeth (rev. ed.) iv. 564 Those that are Expectants of the Crown.
1686 J. Kettlewell Serm. Death Ld. Digby 3 Those, who are now no longer..Expectants, but inherit the Promises.
1771 F. Vesey Cases High Court Chancery 2 157 [The species of fraud] which infects catching bargains with heirs, reversioners, or expectants, in the life of the father, etc.
1788 H. Walpole Reminiscences (1924) iii. 27 Some devoting themselves to the wearer of the crown, and others to the expectant.
1817 G. Canning in Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 330 The impatient expectants of a dilapidated inheritance.
1853 J. B. Marsden Hist. Early Puritans (ed. 2) 186 James, King of Scotland, the eager expectant of their throne.
1901 Law Mag. & Rev. Aug. 477 The equitable doctrine is to be confined to, and enclosed within, the few decided cases in equity where the parties are not heirs, reversioners, or expectants.
2006 F. P. Lock Edmund Burke II. i. 7 Blaquiere..had numerous dependants and expectants of his own.
Compounds
expectant heir n. English Law a person who has a reversionary or remainder interest in property; (also) a person who has the chance of succession to property.
ΚΠ
1714 J. Swift Some Free Thoughts upon Present State Affairs (1741) 29 Scruples artificially raised in the Mind of the expectant Heir.
1875 Law Rep.: Chancery Appeal Cases 10 391/1 That peculiar position of reversioner or remainderman which is oddly enough described as an expectant heir. This phrase is used, not in its literal meaning, but as including..every one who has the hope of succession to the property of an ancestor.
1947 Michigan Law Rev. 45 268 Their special prey was the expectant heir or reversioner, in urgent need of ready cash but precluded from borrowing at moderate rates of interest by the uncertainty of his prospects.
2013 P. J. Barrett Summary Judgment in Ireland ii. 96 An expectant heir who had recently attained his majority sold his reversionary interest in an estate in Mayo to a well-informed buyer for two-thirds of its value.
expectant right n. Law (now rare) a right to a possession or privilege, esp. a reversionary or remainder interest, which is dependant upon the continued existence of present conditions until a specified future event occurs.
ΚΠ
1789 F. Plowden Impartial Thoughts inrolling Deeds 44 He cannot cut off the expectant rights of a child or a remainder-man in an entailed estate, but by matter of notoriety and record.
1811 Morning Post 6 Apr. All..who had what might be called an expectant right under the former practice, possessed a better claim on the House than the individuals whose case was under consideration.
1889 Central Law Jrnl. 29 193/1 An anticipated interest cannot be said to be vested in any person so long as the owner..has full power, by virtue of his ownership, to cut off the expectant right by grant or devise.
1968 Internat. Lawyer 2 319 The right of the Nation to the improvements existing on the concession was merely an expectant right which would only materialize when the concession lapsed.
2012 Pakistan Law Reporter (Nexis) 7 Apr. It was held that a Hindu widow not only cannot dispose off the estate, but also cannot bind the reversioner's expectant rights.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1393