Delaying

How to spell delaying

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce delaying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does delaying mean?

1. verbPostponing something to a later time, or making it happen more slowly.

Delaying in a sentence

• The airline kept delaying the flight without offering any explanation.

• She was delaying her decision until the final figures arrived.

Where does delaying come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the present participle of the verb 'delay', which English took from Old French in the 1300s. The French verb was 'delaier' (also written 'deslaier'), formed from the prefix 'de-', conveying completeness, and 'laier', meaning 'to leave' or 'to let'. The underlying sense was therefore to leave something aside, to put it off rather than deal with it at once. Over time the meaning settled into 'to postpone' and 'to make slower', and the related noun 'delay' followed the same path. The modern '-ing' form simply adds the regular English participle ending to the borrowed stem, so the spelling keeps the plain 'delay' intact with no doubled letter or dropped vowel.

How the word is built

• de- (away, completely)
• lay (root from Old French laier: to leave, let)
• -ing (present participle suffix)