delay
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
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)
- To put off until a later time; to defer.
- Bible, Matthew xxiv. 48
- My lord delayeth his coming.
- Bible, Matthew xxiv. 48
- To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.
- The mail is delayed by a heavy fall of snow.
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1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 10, The Celebrity:
- Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered. […] The Maria had a cabin, which was finished in hard wood and yellow plush, and accommodations for keeping things cold.
- (obsolete) To allay; to temper.
- Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
- The watery showers delay the raging wind.
- Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
Usage notes[edit]
- This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
put off until a later time
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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]
period of time before an event occurs
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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]
Categories:
- 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 terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
