What is the difference between delay and defer?
delay | defer | Synonyms |
To put off until a later time; to defer.
* Bible, (w) xxiv. 48
To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10
, passage=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.}}
(label) To allay; to temper.
* (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
* Bible, Acts xxv. 17
* Macaulay
(obsolete) To dilute, temper.
(obsolete) To assuage, quench, allay.
* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
To delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.
* Shakespeare
* {{quote-book
, year=1818
, author=Mary Shelley
, title=Frankenstein
, chapter=3
to delay, to wait
* Milton
(American football) to choose to kick off after winning the opening coin toss.
(legal) To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.
* Francis Bacon
* 1899 ,
to render, to offer
* Brevint
Defer is a synonym of delay.
As verbs the difference between delay and defer
is that delay is to put off until a later time; to defer while defer is to delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.As a noun delay
is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.delay
English
(wikipedia delay)Etymology 1
From (etyl) . More at let (to hinder), late, leave.Verb
(en verb)- My lord delayeth his coming.
- The watery showers delay the raging wind.
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . SeeSynonyms
* See also * adjourn * defer * forslow * postpone * put off * put on ice * suspendNoun
(en noun)- the delay before the echo of a sound
- Without any delay , on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.
- The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].
External links
* *Anagrams
* *defer
English
Etymology 1
* From (etyl) differer, from (etyl) .Verb
(deferr)- Defer the spoil of the city until night.
citation, passage=My departure for Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.}}
- God will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name.
Derived terms
* deferralEtymology 2
* From (etyl)Verb
(deferr)- Hereupon the commissioners deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.
- "Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain," he said with marked civility.
- worship deferred to the Virgin