tarry

English

Alternative forms

• tarrow (Scotland)

Pronunciation

• (verb, noun) enPR: tăr'ē, IPA: /ˈtæ.ɹi/, SAMPA: /"t{ri/
• (adjective) enPR: tär'ē, IPA: /ˈtɑːri/, SAMPA: /"tA:ri/

  Rhymes: -æri, -ɑːri

Etymology 1

From Middle English tarien, terien (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirian, tirgan, tergan (“to worry, exasperate, pain, provoke, excite”), from Proto-Germanic *terganan (“to drag”), from Proto-Indo-European *deregʰ- (“to pull, tug, irritate”). Cognate with Dutch tergen (“to provoke”), German zergen (“to vex, irritate, provoke”), Russian дергать (dergat', “to pull, yank, jerk, pluck up”).

Verb

tarry (third-person singular simple present tarries, present participle tarrying, simple past and past participle tarried)

1. (intransitive) To delay; to be late or tardy in beginning or doing anything.

   It is true that the Messiah will come, though he may tarry. (Hitchens quoting translated Maimonides)

2. (intransitive) To linger in expectation of something or until something is done or happens.
3. (intransitive) To abide, stay or wait somewhere, especially if longer than planned.
4. (intransitive) To stay somewhere temporarily; to sojourn.

Synonyms

• (stay or wait, especially longer than planned): hang about, hang around, linger, loiter
• (stay somewhere temporarily): sojourn, stay, stay over, stop, stop over

Translations

delay or be tardy

Estonian: viivitama (et) German: zaudern (de), zögern (de)

Russian: мешкать (ru)

linger in expectation of

Estonian: viivitama (et)

German: abwarten (de)

stay or wait somewhere

Estonian: peatuma (et), ootama (et) German: verweilen (de), weilen (de)

Latin: sedeo (la)

stay somewhere temporarily

Estonian: viibima (et) German: verweilen, weilen

Latin: sedeo (la) Russian: останавливаться (ru)

Noun

tarry (plural tarries)

1. A sojourn.

Synonyms

• (sojourn): stay, stop, stop-over

Translations

sojourn

German: Verzögerung (de) f.

Etymology 2

tar +‎ -y

Adjective

tarry (comparative tarrier, superlative tarriest)

1. Resembling tar.
2. Covered with tar.

Synonyms

• (resembling tar): pitchy
• (covered with tar): bituminized (treated with tar), pitchy

References

• “tarry” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967