defer
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɪˈfɜː(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /dɪˈfɝ/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
Audio (UK) (file) - Hyphenation: de‧fer
Etymology 1
Originally a variant of (and hence a doublet of) differ; from Middle English differren (“to postpone”), from Old French differer, from Latin differō.
Verb
defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)
- (transitive) To delay or postpone
- We're going to defer the decision until we have all the facts.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene vii], page 141, column 2:
- Deferre the ſpoile of the Citie vntill night:
- 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, OCLC 830979744, page 65:
- My journey to Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.
- (especially more common, historically) to postpone induction into military service.
- (American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).
- (intransitive) To delay, to wait.
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, lines 474–476, page 34:
- God […] will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name
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Derived terms
- deferral
- deferment
- tax-deferred
Related terms
- differ
Translations
(transitive) to delay — See also translations at delay, postpone, put off
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(intransitive) to delay
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Etymology 2
From late Middle English differren (“to refer for judgement”), from Middle French déférer, from Latin dēferō.
Verb
defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)
- (transitive, intransitive) To submit to the opinion or desire of others in respect to their judgment or authority.
- 1622, Francis Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII:
- Hereupon the commissioners […] deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.
- 1885, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado:
- "Defer/Defer/To the Lord High Executioner."
- 1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], OCLC 1042815524, part II:
- "Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain," he said with marked civility.
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- To render, to offer.
- 1872, Daniel Brevint, Saul and Samuel at Endor
- worship deferred to the Virgin
- 1872, Daniel Brevint, Saul and Samuel at Endor
Derived terms
- deference
Translations
to submit to the opinion or desire of another
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Anagrams
- freed, refed
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈdeː.fer/, [ˈd̪eːfɛr]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈde.fer/, [ˈd̪ɛːfer]
Verb
dēfer
- second-person singular present active imperative of dēferō