Picture someone leaning slightly forward, eyes on the door, waiting for something good that is already on its way. Not worrying, not simply passing time — believing it will come. Expectant is that lean. It is used for the person who waits, for the face that shows it, and for the quiet that falls over a room full of people doing the same thing.
expectant 可以想成一個身體微微前傾、眼睛盯著門口的人，在等一件已經在路上的好事。不是擔心，也不是單純打發時間，而是相信它會來。這個字說的就是那個前傾的姿勢。它可以用在等的人身上，用在臉上那個表情上，也可以用在一屋子人同時這樣等時，空氣裡那陣安靜。
From the word’s history
Wiktionary gives the word from Old French expectant, from Latin expectans, which belongs with waiting and watching for something. That watching posture is still the whole picture today.
維基詞典記到這個字來自古法文 expectant，再往上是拉丁文 expectans，那一支跟「等著、望著」有關。今天這個字的畫面幾乎沒有變過：還是那個望著一個方向、等著什麼出現的姿勢。
Wiktionary (kaikki extract, etymology_text supplied in this packet: kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1186315499)
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