defer

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈfɜː(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)

Etymology 1

• From Old French differer, from Latin differre.

Verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

1. (transitive) To delay or postpone, especially to postpone induction into military service.
   • Shakespeare

     Defer the spoil of the city until night.

   • 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter 3, Frankenstein^[1]:

     My departure for Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.

2. (intransitive) To delay; to wait.
   • Milton

     God […] will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name.

Related terms

• differ

Derived terms

• deferral

Translations

to delay

• Bulgarian: отлагам (bg) (otlagam), отсрочвам (bg) (otsročvam)
• Czech: odkládat (cs)
• Dutch: uitstellen (nl)
• Finnish: lykätä (fi)
• French: différer (fr)
• German: aufschieben (de), aufheben (de), verzögern (de), vertagen (de)
• Hungarian: elhalaszt (hu)

• Polish: odraczać (pl), odroczyć (pl)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: одгодити (sh)

  Roman: odgoditi (sh)

• Spanish: perecear (es)
• Swedish: skjuta upp (sv)
• Turkish: geciktirmek (tr), tehir etmek (tr)

Etymology 2

• From Middle French deferer, from Latin deferre

Verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

1. (law) To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.
   • 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 2

     ‘Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain,’ he said with marked civility.

Derived terms

• deference

Translations

to submit to the opinion or desire of another

• Bulgarian: отстъпвам (bg) (otstǎpvam)
• Finnish: mukautua (fi), alistua (fi)
• German: weiterleiten (de), verschieben (de)

• Hungarian: enged (hu) (valaminek)
• Slovak: podvoliť sa (sk)
• Swedish: hänskjuta (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Turkish: ertelemek

Anagrams

• freed
• refed

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Latin

Verb

dēfer

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēferō