Awake

How to spell awake

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce awake

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does awake mean?

1. adjectiveNot asleep; in a conscious, alert state.
2. verbTo stop sleeping, or to rouse someone from sleep.

Awake in a sentence

• adjective

  The baby was still awake at midnight despite the long day.

• verb

  The alarm will awake the whole household at six.

• adjective

  Three cups of coffee kept her awake through the night shift.

• verb

  Campers usually awake at dawn when the light floods the tent.

Where does awake come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from Old English, where the prefix a- (a worn-down form of an earlier on- or ge-, signalling a state or completed action) was joined to the verb wacian, meaning 'to be awake' or 'to keep watch'. The same Germanic root that gave wacian also produced 'watch' and 'wake', all carrying the underlying idea of alertness and not sleeping. Over the medieval period the older verbs 'awake' and 'awaken' jostled alongside the plain 'wake', which is why English still keeps several near-identical forms today. The adjective use ('I am awake') grew naturally out of the past participle of the verb. The spelling stays pleasingly regular: a single a- prefix, then the familiar word 'wake', with no doubled letters or silent traps.

How the word is built

• a- (Old English on-, intensive/state prefix)
• wake (from Old English wacian, to be awake or to rouse)