delayyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[delay 词源字典]
delay: [13] English acquired delay from Old French delaier, a compound verb formed from the prefix de- ‘off’ and laier ‘leave’. This verb, which also crops up in English relay, appears to have been a variant of laissier (source of English lease), which came from Latin laxāre ‘slacken, undo’. This in turn was derived from the adjective laxus ‘loose’.
=> lax, lease, relay[delay etymology, delay origin, 英语词源]
delay (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1300, from Old French delaiier, from de- "away, from" (see de-) + laier "leave, let," probably a variant of Old French laissier, from Latin laxare "slacken, undo" (see lax). Related: Delayed; delaying.
delay (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-13c., from Old French delaie, from delaiier (see delay (v.)).