Word of the Day

: January 10, 2012

defer

verb dih-FER

What It Means

1 : put off, delay

2 : to postpone induction of (a person) into military service

defer in Context

The minister advised the young man and woman that it would be wise for them to defer getting married until they had finished school.

"In 1962, at age 20, he was commissioned at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. After three years he was deferred to go to law school at the University of South Carolina." -- From an article by Corey Hutchins in the Free Times (South Carolina), November 16, 2011

Did You Know?

There are two words spelled "defer" in English. The other "defer," which means "to submit to another's wishes or opinion" (as in "I defer to your superior expertise"), is derived from the Latin verb "deferre." The "defer" we're featuring today is derived from Latin "differre," which itself has several meanings including "to postpone" and "to differ." Not surprisingly, "differre" is also the source of our word "differ," meaning "to be different." In fact, at one time there were two "differ" homographs in English; over four hundred years ago, "differ" could also mean "to put off" (and could be pronounced with the stress on the last syllable, in the same way as "defer").