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Origin and history of delay

delay(v.)

c. 1300, delaien, "to put off, postpone;" late 14c., "to put off or hinder for a time," from Old French delaiier, from de- "away, from" (see de-) + laier "leave, let." This is perhaps a variant of Old French laissier, from Latin laxare "slacken, undo" (see lax). But Watkins has it from Frankish *laibjan, from a Proto-Germanic causative form of PIE root *leip- "to stick, adhere." Intransitive sense of "linger, move slowly" is from c. 1500. Related: Delayed; delaying.

delay(n.)

mid-13c., delaie, "a putting off, a deferring," from Old French delaie, from delaiier (see delay (v.)).

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to delay

lax(adj.)

c. 1400, "loose" (in reference to bowels), from Latin laxus "wide, spacious, roomy," figuratively "loose, free, wide" (also used of indulgent rule and low prices), from PIE *lag-so-, suffixed form of root *sleg- "be slack, be languid."

In English, of rules, discipline, etc., from mid-15c. Related: Laxly; laxness. A transposed Vulgar Latin form yielded Old French lasche, French lâche. The laxists, though they formed no avowed school, were nonetheless condemned by Innocent XI in 1679.

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

*leip-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to stick, adhere; fat."

It might form all or part of: adipose; beleave; delay; leave (v.); lebensraum; life; liparo-; lipo- (1) "fat;" lipoma; liposuction; lively; live (v.); liver (n.1) "secreting organ of the body;" Olaf; relay.

It might also be the source of: Greek liparein "to persist, persevere," aleiphein "anoint with oil," lipos "fat;" Old English lifer "liver," læfan "to allow to remain."

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    rush
    mid-14c. (implied in rushing), "to drive back or down," from Anglo-French russher, from Old French ruser "to dodge, repel," which is from Latin recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to" (see recuse; also compare ruse). The meaning "do somethin
    check
    c. 1300, in chess, "a call noting one's move has placed his opponent's king (or another major piece) in immediate peril," from Old French eschequier "a check at chess" (also "chess board, chess set"), from eschec "the game of chess; chessboard; check; checkmate," from Vulgar Lati
    detain
    early 15c. (implied in deteined), "keep back or away, withhold," from Old French detenir "to hold off, keep back" (12c.), from Latin detinere "hold off, keep back," from de "from, away" (see de-) + tenere "to hold" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch"). Legal sense of "to hold in cu
    demurrage
    unloading beyond the time originally stipulated" [Century Dictionary], 1640s, from Old French demorage, from demorer "to stay, delay..., retard," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause, delay...Also "a payment in compensation by the freighter for such a delay."...
    moratorium
    a legal term for "authorization to a debtor to postpone due payment," from neuter of Late Latin moratorius "tending to delay...," from Latin morari "to delay," from mora "pause, delay," from PIE *morh- "to hinder, delay" (source also of Sanskrit amurchat...
    demurrer
    1530s, "a pause, a delay" (a sense now obsolete); 1540 as legal pleading to the effect that, even conceding the facts to...be as alleged by the opponent, he is not entitled to legal relief, from Anglo-French demurrer, Old French demorer "to delay..., retard," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause, delay...
    demur
    c. 1200, demuren, "to linger, tarry, delay," a sense now obsolete, from variant stem of Old French demorer "delay, retard...," from Latin demorari "to linger, loiter, tarry," from de- (see de-) + morari "to delay," from mora "a pause, delay" (see...
    shilly-shally
    "to vacillate, hesitate, act in an irresolute manner," 1782, from the adverbial expression to stand shilly-shally (1703), earlier shill I, shall I (1700), a fanciful reduplication of shall I? (compare wishy-washy, dilly-dally, etc.). From 1734 as an adjective, by 1755 as a colloq
    defer
    "to delay, put off, postpone," late 14c., differren, deferren, from Old French diferer (14c.) and directly from Latin differre "carry apart, scatter, disperse;" also "be different, differ;" also "defer, put off, postpone," from assimilated form of dis- "away from" (see dis-) + fe
    catch
    c. 1200, "to take, capture," from Anglo-French or Old North French cachier "catch, capture" animals (Old French chacier "hunt, pursue, drive" animals, Modern French chasser "to hunt"), from Vulgar Latin *captiare "try to seize, chase" (also source of Spanish cazar, Italian caccia

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