Word of the Day : April 11, 2018

defer \dih-FER\ verb

Definition

1 : put off, delay

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

Did You Know?

There are two words spelled defer in English. The other defer, which means "to delegate to another for determination or decision" or "to submit to another's wishes or opinion" (as in "I defer to your superior expertise"), is derived from the Latin verb deferre, meaning "to bring down." 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."

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Aired April 11, 2018

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