Afrikaans vertraging | ||
Albanian vonesë | ||
Amharic መዘግየት | ||
Arabic تأخير | ||
Armenian ուշացում | ||
Assamese পলম কৰা | ||
Aymara jayarsti | ||
Azerbaijani gecikmə | ||
Bambara ka mɛ | ||
Basque atzerapena | ||
Belarusian затрымка | ||
Bengali বিলম্ব | ||
Bhojpuri देरी | ||
Bosnian odgoditi | ||
Bulgarian забавяне | ||
Catalan retard | ||
Cebuano paglangan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 延迟 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 延遲 | ||
Corsican ritardu | ||
Croatian odgoditi | ||
Czech zpoždění | ||
Danish forsinke | ||
Dhivehi ލަސްވުން | ||
Dogri चिर | ||
Dutch vertraging | ||
English delay | ||
Esperanto prokrasti | ||
Estonian viivitus | ||
Ewe hehe ɖe megbe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) pagkaantala | ||
Finnish viive | ||
French retard | ||
Frisian fertraging | ||
Galician atraso | ||
Georgian დაგვიანება | ||
German verzögern | ||
Greek καθυστέρηση | ||
Guarani mbegue | ||
Gujarati વિલંબ | ||
Haitian Creole reta | ||
Hausa jinkiri | ||
Hawaiian hoʻolohi | ||
Hebrew לְעַכֵּב | ||
Hindi विलंब | ||
Hmong ncua sijhawm | ||
Hungarian késleltetés | ||
Icelandic seinkun | ||
Igbo igbu oge | ||
Ilocano itantan | ||
Indonesian menunda | ||
Irish moill | ||
Italian ritardo | ||
Japanese ディレイ | ||
Javanese tundha | ||
Kannada ವಿಳಂಬ | ||
Kazakh кешіктіру | ||
Khmer ពន្យាពេល | ||
Kinyarwanda gutinda | ||
Konkani कळाव | ||
Korean 지연 | ||
Krio westɛm | ||
Kurdish derengxistin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دواخستن | ||
Kyrgyz кечигүү | ||
Lao ຊັກຊ້າ | ||
Latin mora | ||
Latvian kavēšanās | ||
Lingala kozelisa | ||
Lithuanian delsimas | ||
Luganda okulwawo | ||
Luxembourgish verspéidung | ||
Macedonian доцнење | ||
Maithili देरी | ||
Malagasy fahatarana | ||
Malay kelewatan | ||
Malayalam കാലതാമസം | ||
Maltese dewmien | ||
Maori whakaroa | ||
Marathi विलंब | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯊꯦꯡꯊꯕ | ||
Mizo titlai | ||
Mongolian саатал | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နောက်ကျ | ||
Nepali ढिला | ||
Norwegian forsinkelse | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kuchedwa | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବିଳମ୍ବ | ||
Oromo boodatti hafuu | ||
Pashto ځنډ | ||
Persian تاخیر انداختن | ||
Polish opóźnienie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) demora | ||
Punjabi ਦੇਰੀ | ||
Quechua unayay | ||
Romanian întârziere | ||
Russian задержка | ||
Samoan tuai | ||
Sanskrit विलम्बः | ||
Scots Gaelic dàil | ||
Sepedi diega | ||
Serbian одлагање | ||
Sesotho lieha | ||
Shona kunonoka | ||
Sindhi دير ڪرڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ප්රමාදය | ||
Slovak meškanie | ||
Slovenian zamuda | ||
Somali daahid | ||
Spanish retrasar | ||
Sundanese reureuh | ||
Swahili kuchelewesha | ||
Swedish dröjsmål | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) antala | ||
Tajik таъхир | ||
Tamil தாமதம் | ||
Tatar тоткарлау | ||
Telugu ఆలస్యం | ||
Thai ล่าช้า | ||
Tigrinya ምዝንጋዕ | ||
Tsonga hlwela | ||
Turkish gecikme | ||
Turkmen gijikdirmek | ||
Twi (Akan) ka akyi | ||
Ukrainian затримка | ||
Urdu تاخیر | ||
Uyghur كېچىكىش | ||
Uzbek kechikish | ||
Vietnamese sự chậm trễ | ||
Welsh oedi | ||
Xhosa ukulibaziseka | ||
Yiddish פאַרהאַלטן | ||
Yoruba idaduro | ||
Zulu ukubambezeleka |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "vertraging" in Afrikaans originated from the Dutch word vertraging, meaning "delay" and also has the alternate meaning of "slowing down" or "retarding". |
| Albanian | The word "vonesë" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wen-, meaning "to wait"} |
| Amharic | The word "መዘግየት" comes from the Geez word "ዘገየ" (zagaye), which means "to hinder" or "to obstruct." |
| Arabic | "تأخير" (delay), from "أخر" (to make late), comes from a different root than the similar-sounding word in Persian |
| Azerbaijani | The word |
| Basque | "Atzerapena", meaning "delay", can be traced back to the Proto-Basque word "*atera-pen-a", meaning "to come later". The first element, "atera", is related to the word "atera", meaning "late", while the second element, "pen-a", is a nominal suffix. |
| Belarusian | The word "затрымка" in Belarusian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*zatьrmati", which also means "to detain" or "to hold back". |
| Bengali | The word "বিলম্ব" derives from Sanskrit "vilamba" meaning "pause". It also denotes "tardiness" or "slowness". |
| Bosnian | "Odgoditi" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*wedh-" meaning "bind, hinder". |
| Bulgarian | The word "забавяне" (delay) in Bulgarian can also refer to "hindrance" or "obstruction" |
| Catalan | In catalan 'retard' also means 'slow', 'late' and 'backwards' |
| Cebuano | The term "paglangan" may also refer to a temporary shelter for animals during transport. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 延迟 (chíyán) was originally used to record the names of criminals who needed to be executed after the autumn harvest. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | "延" can also mean "extend" and "遲" can mean "slow". |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "ritardu" can also refer to a musical pause or retard. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "odgoditi" is derived from the Old Slavic word "godina" meaning "year". |
| Czech | The word "zpoždění" in Czech relates to the word "" (late"" in English. |
| Danish | The word 'forsinke' in Danish is derived from the Old Norse word 'forsinnka', which means 'to delay' or 'to postpone'. |
| Dutch | The word "vertraging" in Dutch can also mean "slowing down" or "deceleration." |
| Esperanto | Prokrasti can also mean 'postpone', and comes from the Greek word 'akrasis', meaning 'not mixed' or 'in disorder'. |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "viivitus" is cognate with the Finnish word "viive", which has the same meaning, and both words are ultimately derived from the Proto-Finnic word *wihwe, which meant "delay, postponement, or respite." |
| Finnish | Viive is derived from the Proto-Uralic root *wiht-, meaning "to rest" or "to wait". |
| French | In French, "retard" can also mean "late" or "to be late". |
| Frisian | In Saterland Frisian, 'fertraging' also means 'delaying', while in North Frisian it means 'delayed' |
| Galician | The Galician word "atraso" can also mean slowness, laziness, backwardness or lack of progress. |
| German | The word "verzögern" originally meant "to drag" or "to draw out" in Middle High German. |
| Greek | The Greek word "καθυστέρηση" also refers to the physical distance between two objects or the intellectual gap between two opinions. |
| Gujarati | The term "વિલંબ" is derived from the Sanskrit "वि-लम्ब", meaning "hanging down" or "suspended", indicating a state of inaction or postponement. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "reta" can also refer to procrastination, a pause, or a lull in activity. |
| Hausa | "Jinkiri" in Hausa also means "to stop temporarily". |
| Hawaiian | 'Hoʻolohi' shares an etymological relationship with 'lōhi', meaning 'slow' or 'gentle', hinting at its semantic origins in the concept of slowing down or taking one's time. |
| Hebrew | The verb לְעַכֵּב can also mean "to prevent" or "to obstruct". |
| Hindi | The Hindi word विलम्ब originally meant "to be long, drawn out, or tedious," and continues to be used in this sense in compound phrases. |
| Hmong | "Ncua sijhawm" means "delay" in Hmong, and also refers to the act of procrastinating or putting something off until later. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "késleltetés" is cognate with the Finnish noun "keskeytys", meaning "interruption" |
| Icelandic | The word "seinkun" has alternate meanings in Icelandic such as "hesitation" and "tardiness." |
| Igbo | "igbu oge" can also mean "to waste time" |
| Indonesian | Menunda is derived from the Old Javanese word "tunda" which means to postpone or defer. |
| Irish | The word 'moill' is cognate with the Welsh word 'moel' meaning 'bare, bald' and Breton 'moal' meaning 'bald' and with the Old Irish 'maol' meaning 'delay'. |
| Italian | In musical terminology, "ritardo" also indicates a slight slowing of tempo. |
| Japanese | The English word "delay" is derived from the Old French word "delai, |
| Javanese | In Javanese, "tundha" has multiple meanings, including "to delay" and "to leave something behind." |
| Kannada | As a verb, ವಿಳಂಬ can also mean to procrastinate or hesitate. |
| Kazakh | The verb "кешіктіру" is derived from the noun "кешік" meaning "delay" and also means "to prolong" or "to slow down". |
| Khmer | ពន្យាពេល (delay) comes from Sanskrit 'vyānatta' (expanded) suggesting a state of being extended or stretched out. |
| Korean | In Korean, "지연" can also refer to a person who is tardy or procrastinates. |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish, the word "derengxistin" not only means "delay," but also carries the connotation of "putting off" or "avoiding" a task or responsibility. |
| Kyrgyz | The word 'кечигүү' in Kyrgyz can also mean 'forgiveness' or 'pardon'. |
| Lao | The Lao word ຊັກຊ້າ has the alternate meaning of procrastination, which is the act of voluntarily delaying or postponing a task despite knowing that it needs to be addressed. |
| Latin | The Latin word "mora" also refers to the unit of measurement used in the study of poetry. |
| Latvian | The word "kavēšanās" also means "procrastination" or "tardiness" in Latvian. |
| Lithuanian | The word "delsimas" in Lithuanian is derived from the Latin word "delassatio", meaning tiredness or fatigue. |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Verspéidung" is derived from the Latin word "vesper", meaning "evening", and also has the alternate meaning of "evening meal" in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | Доцнење is cognate with Bulgarian, Croatian, Russian, and Ukrainian for "late" and has the extended meaning of "lateness". |
| Malagasy | "Fahatarana" comes from the verb "fahatra" meaning "to catch (someone)," or "to overtake (someone)" |
| Malay | "Kelewatan" also means "excessive" or "too much" in Malay. |
| Maltese | "Demien" is a noun meaning "delay", from "damjar" (wait, linger), and is also the feminine singular form of the verb "damja" (wait). |
| Maori | A secondary meaning of "whakaroa" is to "hold up an end of the net" while fishing. |
| Marathi | "विलंब" can also mean an "obstacle" in Marathi, derived from the Sanskrit word "विघ्न" meaning "impediment". |
| Mongolian | The word "саатал" can also refer to "hesitation" or "procrastination". |
| Nepali | "ढिला" can colloquially mean 'lax' in Nepali, especially when describing people. |
| Norwegian | The word 'forsinkelse' comes from the Old Norse word 'forseinka', meaning 'to obstruct' or 'to hinder'. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Nyanja, "kuchedwa" commonly means "delay," but can also refer to "lateness" or "being tardy." |
| Pashto | The word "ځنډ" (delay) in Pashto may also refer to a "pause" or "break" in a sentence or piece of music. |
| Persian | "تاخیر انداختن" originates from Old Persian "taxm-," meaning "to stop, cease", and later from Sanskrit "takman-, |
| Polish | The word "opóźnienie" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "opъzniti", meaning "to stop, delay". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "demora" can also mean "stay" or "stop" in Portuguese. |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਦੇਰੀ" (delay) shares its root with the Sanskrit word "दिरा" (slow), which also means "long, distant, or protracted." |
| Romanian | "Întârziere" ultimately derives from the Latin word "tardiare", meaning "to be slow". |
| Russian | Originally, this word meant "stopping or holding back". |
| Samoan | The word "tuai" can also mean "to prolong," "to hold back," or "to defer." |
| Scots Gaelic | Dàil is also a word used in Scottish Gaelic for a valley. |
| Serbian | The word 'одлагање' can also mean 'deferment', 'postponement', or 'expiration'. |
| Sesotho | The word "lieha" in Sesotho is the root of a family of words related to waiting or delaying. |
| Shona | The word "kunonoka" derives from an etymological root meaning "to be heavy" or "sluggish." |
| Sindhi | The word "دير ڪرڻ" also means "to procrastinate" in Sindhi, highlighting the strong connection between delay and the act of putting things off. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | Its Sanskrit cognate, pramāda, means 'negligence' rather than 'delay' in Sinhala. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "meškanie" is derived from the Old Slavic word "meškati", meaning "to linger" or "to wait". |
| Slovenian | The word "zamuda" in Slovenian originally meant "obstruction", "obstacle" or "difficulty". |
| Somali | Daahid is also the Somali word for hesitation or procrastination. |
| Spanish | "Retrasar" originated both from the Latin "trahere," meaning "to drag (slowly)," through the Medieval Romance "retardar," "to slow," and from "ras-," a contraction of the prefix that originated in the Latin and Greek "re-, retro-" |
| Sundanese | The word "reureuh" can also mean "to wait" or "to delay someone or something" in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | The word 'kuchelewesha' in Swahili comes from the root 'chelewa', meaning 'to be late' or 'to take time'. |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "dröjsmål" can also refer to a penalty of payment for exceeding specified delivery times of goods. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In Tagalog, "antala" also means "hesitation" or "procrastination." |
| Tajik | The word also means 'to put off doing something until later'. |
| Tamil | "தாமதம்" comes from the Tamil word "தம்", meaning "self" or "one's own", and "தம்ம" meaning "to cause a delay" or "to tarry". Additionally, it can also mean "slowness" or "inertia". |
| Telugu | The term 'ఆలస్యం' can also refer to a 'pause', 'interval', 'rest' or 'delay'. |
| Thai | The word "ล่าช้า" also means "to be late" or "to be tardy" in Thai. |
| Turkish | The word "gecikme" originates from the Persian word "gecik" meaning "to be late" and has a similar meaning in Albanian. |
| Ukrainian | Etymology: a delay, retention, postponement, from 'zatyrmuvaty': 'to hinder' (cf. '+tyrmati+', '-tym'); delay in delivery of an object or performance of some act |
| Urdu | The word "تاخیر" (takheer) is derived from the Arabic word for "postponement" or "stay of execution," and can also carry the connotation of "negligence" or "dereliction of duty." |
| Uzbek | The verb «kechikish» is cognate with the Turkish verb «geç kalmak» which means either «to be late» or «to delay». |
| Vietnamese | In Vietnamese, "sự chậm trễ" can also refer to a period of inactivity or inaction. |
| Welsh | The verb 'oedi' in Welsh can also mean 'tarry' or 'dally', emphasising its connection to passing time. |
| Xhosa | 'Ukubaziseka' can also mean to loiter. |
| Yiddish | In addition to its common meaning of "delay," the Yiddish word "פאַרהאַלטן" (farehalt) can also mean "to stop" or "to detain." |
| Yoruba | "Idadura" also means "postponement, adjournment, procrastination, or suspension" in Yoruba language. |
| Zulu | The Zulu verb 'ukubambezeleka' comes from the noun 'sibambezele', meaning 'a block or obstacle'. |
| English | The word "delay" derives from the Old English word "dalian"," which means "to put off" or"defer". |