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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Defer

De-fēr', v. t.

verbtransitive

(14), v. t. [imp. & p. p. DEFERRED; p. pr. & vb. n. DEFERRING.] [Lat. deferre, to bear away, to deliver, report; differre, to bear apart, to put off, delay, from de, or dis, and ferre, to bear.] 1. To put off; to postpone to a future time; to delay; to protract. Defer the spoil of the city till night. Shak. 2. To lay before; to submit in a respectful manner; to refer. The commissioners . . . deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland. Bacon. 3. To render or offer. [Obs.] “Worship deferred to the Virgin.” Brewint.

De-fĕr′, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [Fr. déférer, to pay deference. See supra.] 1. To put off; to delay; to wait. God . . . will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name. Milton. 2. To yield from respect to the wishes of another; to submit to the opinion of another, or to authority. The house, deferring to legal right, acquiesced. Bancroft.