ETYM French délai, from Old Fren. deleer to delay, or from Latin dilatum, which, though really from a different root, is used in Latin only as a p. p. neut. of differre to carry apart, defer, delay. Related to Tolerate, Differ, Delay.
1. The act of delaying; SYN. holdup, detention.
2. Time during which some action is awaited; SYN. hold, time lag, postponement, wait.
Quality of coming late or later in time.