Where does “delay” come from?
Delay comes from Middle English delaien, from Anglo-Norman delaier, from Old French de- combined with a root from Latin dis- meaning "apart," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ meaning "two."
delay (English): A period of time before an event occurs; the act...
Definitions
- A period of time before an event occurs; the act...
Ancestry of “delay”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | delaien | — |
| 2 | Old French | delaiier | — |
| 3 | Old French | delaissier | to leave; to abandon |
| 4 | Old French | des | — |
| 5 | Old French | de | of; from |
| 6 | Latin | datum | gift, present; accusative supine of dō;... |
| 7 | Latin | datus | given; offered; yielded |
| 8 | Latin | dāre | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | didō | give |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dédeh₃ti | to be giving |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | deh₃- | to give |