defer

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɜː(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɝ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Hyphenation: de‧fer

Etymology 1

Originally a variant of (and hence a doublet of) differ; from Middle English differren (“to postpone”), from Old French differer, from Latin differō.

Verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

1. (transitive) To delay or postpone

   We're going to defer the decision until we have all the facts.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies.  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 141, column 2:

     Deferre the ſpoile of the Citie vntill night:

   • 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. , volume I, London: for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, →OCLC, page 65:

     My journey to Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.

   1. (especially more common, historically) to postpone induction into military service.
2. (American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).
3. (intransitive) To delay, to wait.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 34, lines 474–476:

     God […] will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name

Derived terms

• deferral
• deferment
• tax-deferred

Related terms

• differ

Translations

Etymology 2

From late Middle English differren (“to refer for judgement”), from Middle French déférer, from Latin dēferō.

Verb

defer (third-person singular simple present defers, present participle deferring, simple past and past participle deferred)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To submit to the opinion or desire of others in respect to their judgment or authority.
   • 1622, Francis Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII:

     Hereupon the commissioners […] deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.

   • 1885, W.S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, The Mikado:

     "Defer/Defer/To the Lord High Executioner."

   • 1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, , →OCLC, part II:

     "Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain," he said with marked civility.

2. To render, to offer.
   • 1872, Daniel Brevint, Saul and Samuel at Endor:

     worship deferred to the Virgin

Derived terms

• deference

Translations

Anagrams

• freed, refed

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdeː.fer/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈde.fer/,

Verb

dēfer

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dēferō