delay
See also: Delay
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English delaien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman delaier, Old French deslaier, from des- + Old French laier (“to leave”), a conflation of Old Frankish *lattjan ("to delay, hinder"; from Proto-Germanic *latjaną (“to delay, hinder, stall”), from Proto-Indo-European *le(y)d- (“to leave, leave behind”)), and Old 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 latu (“a delay, a hindrance”), Old English lǣfan (“to leave”). More at let (to hinder), late, leave.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɪˈleɪ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /dəˈleɪ/, /dɪ-/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪ
- Hyphenation: de‧lay
Noun
delay (countable and uncountable, 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
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 25:17:
- Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.
- 1848, Macaulay, Thomas Babington, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume 1, London: A. and W. Galignani & Co., published 1849, page 522:
- The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.
- 2019 October, Walmsley, Ian, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42:
- In this article I'm thinking about the big delays, over two hours. While rare, they make the news and help to deter people from future rail travel, both travellers and news viewers.
- (music) An audio effects unit that introduces a controlled delay.
- 2014, Hunter, Dave, Guitar Amps and Effects For Dummies, page 259:
- The 8-bit sound quality of many early delays did indeed leave a lot to be desired (compare this to the 16-bit digital technology of CDs)
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- (programming, Clojure) Synonym of promise (“object representing delayed result”)
- (chess) An amount of time provided on each move before one's clock starts to tick; a less common time control than increment.
Synonyms
- (period of time): cunctation, hold-up; see also Thesaurus:delay
Derived terms
- broadcast delay
- call delay
- danger in delay
- delay differential equation
- delay line
- delay slot
- delay tactic
- profanity delay
- rain delay
- round-trip delay time
- tape delay
- time delay
- time-delay
Descendants
- → Portuguese: delay
Translations
period of time before an event occurs
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Verb
delay (third-person singular simple present delays, present participle delaying, simple past and past participle delayed)
- (transitive, intransitive) To put off until a later time; to defer.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 24:48:
- My lord delayeth his coming.
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- To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.
- The mail is delayed by a heavy fall of snow.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
- 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.
- (transitive, obsolete) To allay; to temper.
- a. 1547, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, The faithful Lover declareth his Pains and his uncertain Joys, and with only Hope recomforteth somewhat his woful Heart
- The watery showers delay the raging wind.
- a. 1547, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, The faithful Lover declareth his Pains and his uncertain Joys, and with only Hope recomforteth somewhat his woful Heart
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms
- (put off until a later time): adjourn, defer, forslow, penelopize, postpone, put off, put on ice, suspend; See also Thesaurus:procrastinate
- (retard): belate, forslow, get in the way, hold up, impede; See also Thesaurus:hinder
- (allay): calm, moderate, quell; See also Thesaurus:pacify
Derived terms
- delayed critical
- delayed criticality
- delayed ejaculation
- delayed miscarriage
- delayed neutron
- delayed onset muscle soreness
- delayed-onset muscle soreness
- delayed puberty
- delayed sleep phase disorder
- delaying tactic
- delay no more
- justice delayed is justice denied
Translations
to put off until a later time
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Etymology 2
From Middle English delaien, from Old French delaiier, a variant of delaissier.
Verb
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, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
- Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].
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Further reading
- delay in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- delay in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- Adley, Daley, Dealy, Leday, dealy, ladye, layed, leady
Maranao
Noun
delay
- Job's tears
References
- A Maranao Dictionary, by Howard P. McKaughan and Batua A. Macaraya
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English delay.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /de.ˈlej/
Noun
delay m (plural delays)
- (posh, except in technical contexts) delay (period of time before an event being initiated and actually occurring)
- Synonym: atraso
- (audio engineering) delay (effect that produces echo-like repetitions in sound)
- (audio engineering) delay (unit that produces a delay effect)