defer

英[d?'f??] 美[d?'f?]

反義詞

第三人稱單數(shù):?defers;過(guò)去式:?deferred;過(guò)去分詞:?deferred;現(xiàn)在分詞:?deferring;名詞:?deferment;

defer 推遲，延遲

de-, 分開，散開。-fer, 拿，帶，詞源同bring, infer. 即分散開，引申義推遲，延遲。

defer 遵從，順從

de-, 向下，離開。-fer, 拿，帶，詞源同bring, infer. 即拿走，轉(zhuǎn)移，詞義引申為轉(zhuǎn)交，遵從，順從。

defer: defer: English has two distinct verbs defer. The one meaning ‘delay’ [14] is ultimately the same words as differ. It comes via Old French differer from Latin differre ‘carry apart, delay’, a compound verb formed from the prefix dis- ‘a(chǎn)part’ and ferre ‘carry’ (related to English bear). The Latin verb’s past participle, dīlātus, is the source of English dilatory [15]. Defer ‘submit’ [15] comes via Old French deferer from Latin dēferre ‘carry away’, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘a(chǎn)way’ and ferre.

The notion of submission seems to have arisen from an earlier application to referring, or ‘carrying’, a matter to someone else.
=> bear, dilatory
defer (v.1): "to delay," late 14c., differren, deferren, from Old French differer (14c.), from Latin differre "carry apart, scatter, disperse;" also "be different, differ;" also "defer, put off, postpone," (see differ). Etymologically identical with differ; the spelling and pronunciation differentiated from 15c., perhaps partly by association of this word with delay.
defer (v.2): "yield," mid-15c., from Middle French déférer (14c.) "to yield, comply," from Latin deferre "carry away, transfer, grant," from de- "down, away" (see de-) + ferre "carry" (see infer). Main modern sense is from meaning "refer (a matter) to someone," which also was in Latin.