# wake

> English word · Verb · IPA /weɪk/ · frequency rank #1,807

## Definitions
1. (often followed by up) To stop sleeping.
2. (often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.
3. To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
4. To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
5. To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
6. To be or remain awake; not to sleep.
7. To be alert; to keep watch
8. To sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.

## Etymology
A merger of two verbs of related/similar form and meaning:
* Middle English waken, Old English wacan, from Proto-West Germanic *wakan, from Proto-Germanic *wakaną.
* Middle English wakien, Old English wacian, from Proto-West Germanic *wakēn, from Proto-Germanic *wakāną.

## Easily confused with
- **we** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-we)
- **was** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-was)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-way)
- **war** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-war)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wwe)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wax)
- **wee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wee)
- **wan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wan)
- **WAL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wal)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wat)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-woe)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wie)
- **wok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wok)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wye)
- **WAP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wap)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wav)
- **were** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-were)
- **want** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-want)
- **wife** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-wife)
- **walk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wake-vs-walk)

## Common misspellings (5)
`awke`, `waek`, `wakke`, `wkae`, `wwake`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wake