delay
/dɪˈleɪ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.40 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "the delay before the echo of a sound"
- "Two twenty minutes' delays."
- "Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat."
- "The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day."
- "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."
- "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)"
Etymology
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 *leh₁d- (“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”)). Doublet of dally. 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɪˈleɪ/
- British English: /dɪˈleɪ/