délai

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French delai, from Old French delai, delaie (“delay”), from delaier, delayer, deslaier (“to put off, delay, offlet, drain”), from des- + laiier (“to leave”), partly from Frankish *lattjan (“to delay, hinder”), from Proto-Germanic *latjaną (“to delay, hinder, stall”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to leave, leave behind”), and partly from Frankish *laibijan (“to leave”), from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (“to leave, cause to stay”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to remain, continue”).

Akin to Old English latian (“to delay, hesitate”), Old English lǣfan (“to leave”). More at delay. The noun délai is unrelated to modern verb délayer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.lɛ/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Noun

délai m (plural délais)

1. time limit

   il faut le faire dans un délai de trois semaines

   it must be done within three weeks

   délai fixe

   fixed time limit

   le délai a écoulé

   time has run out

2. extension (extra time to complete a task)

Derived terms

• à bref délai
• dans les plus brefs délais
• sans délai

Further reading

• “délai”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• délia
• idéal
• laide