delay
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English [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
From Middle English delaien, from Anglo-Norman delaier, Old French deslaier, from des- + Old French laier (“to leave”), a conflation of Old Frankish *latjan ("to delay, hinder"; from Proto-Germanic *latjaną (“to delay, hinder, stall”), from Proto-Indo-European *le(i)d- (“to leave, leave behind”)), and Old Frankish *laibjan ("to leave"; from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (“to leave, cause to stay”), from Proto-Indo-European *leip- (“to remain, continue”)). Akin to Old English latian (“to delay, hesitate”), Old English latu (“a delay, a hindrance”), Old English lǣfan (“to leave”). More at let (to hinder), late, leave.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
delay (third-person singular simple present delays, present participle delaying, simple past and past participle delayed)
Usage notes [edit]
- This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
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Noun [edit]
delay (plural delays)
- A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
- the delay before the echo of a sound
- Bible, Acts xxv. 17
- Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.
- Macaulay
- The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.
Translations [edit]
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Etymology 2 [edit]
From Middle French délayer, ultimately from Latin dis- + ligāre.
Verb [edit]
delay (third-person singular simple present delays, present participle delaying, simple past and past participle delayed)
- (obsolete) To dilute, temper.
- (obsolete) To assuage, quench, allay.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.12:
- Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.12:
External links [edit]
- delay in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- delay in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Anagrams [edit]
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English verbs
- English nouns
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms with obsolete senses
