Expected

How to spell expected

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce expected

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does expected mean?

1. verbRegarded something as likely to happen or anticipated it in advance.
2. adjectiveRegarded as likely or anticipated; predicted in advance.

Expected in a sentence

• verb

  The manager expected a busy afternoon and rostered extra staff.

• adjective

  The train arrived at its expected time without any delay.

• verb

  Nobody expected the train to arrive a full hour late.

• adjective

  Sales fell short of the expected figure for the quarter.

Where does expected come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb exspectare, which meant 'to look out for' or 'to await', built from the prefix ex- 'out' and spectare 'to watch closely', itself a frequentative of specere 'to see'. The literal image is of someone gazing outward, watching for something to arrive, which is exactly the sense of anticipation that survives today. English took the verb 'expect' in the sixteenth century, and 'expected' is simply its past tense and participle, formed with the regular -ed ending. The same spect root sits inside a whole family of common words such as 'inspect', 'spectator', 'respect' and 'spectacle', all of which involve looking or watching. Because the word is built so transparently from familiar parts, the spelling rarely traps adults; the only point to watch is the unstressed -ed ending, which sounds like '-id' but is still written with an e.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, thoroughly)
• spect (look, from Latin spectare 'to watch')
• -ed (past tense / participle suffix)