This noun means expectation or eager waiting for something anticipated. In Hebrews 10:27, it describes 'a fearful expectation of judgment' awaiting those who persist in sin. The word comes from 'to seem/think' and originally meant expectation or opinion. Classical usage shows it meant expectation, anticipation, notion, or opinion—what one expects or thinks will happen. The multilingual evidence (Spanish 'expectación', French 'attente' = waiting, German 'Erwartung' = expectation) conveys the forward-looking anticipation, though Hebrews uses it for dreadful rather than hopeful expectation.