Delay

How to spell delay

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce delay

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does delay mean?

1. verbTo put off or postpone something to a later time, or to cause someone or something to be late.
2. nounA period of time by which something is late or postponed.

Delay in a sentence

• verb

  Heavy snow could delay the morning trains.

• noun

  A long delay at the airport ruined our travel plans.

• verb

  The board voted to delay the launch until next quarter.

• noun

  The builder apologised for the delay in finishing the kitchen.

Where does delay come from?

Language of origin: French

This word arrived in English around the year 1300 from the Old French verb delaier, meaning 'to put off' or 'to postpone'. That verb combined the intensifying prefix de- with the verb laier, meaning 'to leave' or 'to let be', so the literal sense was something like 'to leave matters standing'. The French laier itself is generally traced to the Latin laxare, 'to slacken' or 'to loosen', the same root that gives us 'lax' and 'relax', which fits neatly with the idea of letting a deadline go slack. From its earliest use the word carried both the action of postponing and the resulting period of waiting, much as it does today. The simple spelling, with its plain -ay ending, makes 'delay' one of the more forgiving members of its Latin family, since the awkward Latin x has long since worn away.

How the word is built

• de- (intensive prefix, from Latin)
• lay (from Old French laier, to leave or put off)