Patient means someone who is "able to accept or tolerate delays," according to Google.
Wall Street loves that the Federal Reserve has been patient in raising interest rates. Shortly after the financial crisis, the Fed put in place near-zero interest rates. They haven't touched them since.
The low rates have been a driving force behind the roughly 200% rise in stocks since early March 2009, but the low rate party is about to come to an end. The question is just when.
The Fed meets Tuesday and Wednesday. All eyes will be on whether one critical word -- patient -- is removed from the official policy statement. Deleting "patient" opens the door for the Fed to raise interest rates in June, earlier than some hoped.