waster

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈweɪstə/
• Rhymes: -eɪstə(ɹ)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English wastere, waister, wastar, wastour, equivalent to waste +‎ -er. Compare Anglo-Norman wastur, Old French gastëor.

Noun

waster (plural wasters)

1. Someone or something that wastes; someone who squanders or spends extravagantly.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:spendthrift

2. (dialectal) An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste.

   Synonym: thief

3. (obsolete) A destroyer or plunderer.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 18:9:

     He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

4. An item that is spoiled during its manufacture.
   • 1895, Richard Smith-Casson, “Small Cast Steel Ingots”, in Transactions of the Iron and Steel Institute, volume 46, page 215:

     Unless the cast was very hot indeed, the steel would refuse to ascend, and a great many wasters were caused thereby.

Alternative forms

• (destroyer): wastor, wastour

Derived terms

• candle-waster
• oxygen waster
• time-waster

Translations

one that wastes

Bulgarian: разточител m (raztočitel), прахосник (bg) m (prahosnik) Dutch: verkwister (nl) m Finnish: tuhlaaja (fi), haaskaaja (fi), tuhlari (fi) French: gaspilleur (fr) m, gaspilleuse (fr) f German: Verschwender (de) m, Verschwenderin (de) f Hungarian: pazarló (hu) Macedonian: ра́сипник m (rásipnik) Maori: kaihau Middle English: wastour Polish: marnotrawca (pl) m, marnotrawczyni f Romanian: risipitor (ro) m, risipitoare f Spanish: malgastador (es) m

imperfection in the wick

Finnish: vahaa sulattava karren pala Ottoman Turkish: خرسز (hırsız)

destroyer in Proverbs

Finnish: tuhontekijä

Etymology 2

Unknown

Noun

waster (plural wasters)

1. (obsolete, chiefly fencing) A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a foil.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 6:

     Or, as they that play at wasters exercise themselves by a few cudgels how to avoid an enemy's blows, let us arm ourselves against all such violent incursions which may invade our minds.

2. (obsolete, Scotland) A leister; a spear for catching fish.

Anagrams

• Waters, Westra, rawest, tawers, waters

Middle English

Noun

waster

1. alternative form of wastour

Old French

Verb

waster

1. (Anglo-Norman) alternative form of gaster
   • c. 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou:

     E li Paens ont tot wasté

     And the peasants destroyed everything

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-sts, *-stt are modified to z, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of waster (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		waster			aveir wasté
gerund		en wastant			gerund of aveir + past participle
present participle		wastant
past participle		wasté
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	wast	wastes	waste	wastons	wastez	wastent
	imperfect	wasteie, wastoe, wasteve	wasteies, wastoes, wasteves	wasteit, wastot, wasteve	wastiiens, wastiens	wastiiez, wastiez	wasteient, wastoent, wastevent
	preterite	wastai	wastas	wasta	wastames	wastastes	wasterent
	future	wasterai	wasteras	wastera	wasterons	wastereiz, wasterez	wasteront
	conditional	wastereie	wastereies	wastereit	wasteriiens, wasteriens	wasteriiez, wasteriez	wastereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of aveir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of aveir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of aveir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of aveir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of aveir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	wast	waz	wast	wastons	wastez	wastent
	imperfect	wastasse	wastasses	wastast	wastissons, wastissiens	wastisseiz, wastissez, wastissiez	wastassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of aveir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of aveir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	waste	—	wastons	wastez	—

Descendants

• → Middle English: wasten, waaste, waasten, waaston, waastye, waist, wast, waste, wayst, wasti (Somerset), wastyn (East Anglia)
  • English: waste
  • Scots: waste