délayer

Perhaps from Vulgar Latin delicāre, from Latin deliquāre, and influenced phonetically by the unrelated Old French delaier (cf. délai).

• IPA^(key): /de.lɛ.je/ ~ /de.le.je/

• Audio:

  (file)

délayer

1. (transitive) to add water to
   1. to thin (paint)
   2. to water down (another liquid)
2. to pad out (e.g. a speech)

This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer), the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).

• délayement

• “délayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.