Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-LAY', v.t. [Fr. delai, delay; Sp. dilatar; Port, id., to delay; It. dilata, delay; dilature, to dilate, to spread; from L. dilatus, differo. We see that delay is from spreading, extending. See Dilate.]

1. To prolong the time of acting, or proceeding; to put off; to defer. My lord delayeth his coming. – Matt. xxiv.
2. To retard; to stop, detain or hinder for a time; to restrain motion, or render it slow; as, the mail is delayed by bad roads. Thyrsis, whose artful strains have oft delayed / The huddling brook to hear his madrigal. – Milton.
3. To allay. [Not in use, nor proper.] – Spenser.