English
stay
see also: Stay
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English steyen, staien, from Old French estayer, estaier ("to fix, prop up, support, stay"), from estaye, estaie ("a prop, stay"), from Middle Dutch staeye, a contracted form of staede, stade (compare Middle Dutch staeyen, staeden ("to make firm, stay, support, hold still, stabilise")), from Proto-West Germanic *stadi, from Proto-Germanic *stadiz, from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis.

Sense of "remain, continue" may be due to later influence from Old French ester, esteir ("to stand, be, continue, remain"), from Latin stāre, from the same Proto-Indo-European root above; however, derivation from this root is untenable based on linguistic and historical grounds.

An alternative etymology derives Old French estaye, estaie, from Frankish *stakā, *stakō, from Proto-Germanic *stakô, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-, making it cognate with Old English staca, Old English stician.

Verb

stay (stays, present participle staying; simple past and past participle stayed)

  1. (intransitive) To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.
    We stayed in Hawaii for a week.  I can only stay for an hour.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, page 140 ↗:
      She would commaund the hasty Sunne to stay,
      Or backward turne his course from heuen's hight,
    • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, Act IV, page 60 ↗:
      Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first,
    • 1874 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Three Friends of Mine,” IV, in The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems, Boston: James R. Osgood, 1875, p. 353,
      I stay a little longer, as one stays / To cover up the embers that still burn.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      “Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.
  2. (intransitive, copulative) To continue to have a particular quality.
    Wear gloves so your hands stay warm.
    • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Meleager and Atalanta, out of the Eighth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphosis”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, page 118 ↗:
      For as the Flames augment, and as they stay / At their full Height, then languish to decay, / They rise, and sink by Fits […]
    • 1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter XXX, in Little Women: […], part second, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC ↗:
      The evergreen arch wouldn’t stay firm after she got it up, but wiggled and threatened to tumble down on her head when the hanging baskets were filled.
    • 1943, Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear‎, London: Heinemann, published 1960, Book 3, Chapter 2, p. 210:
      The three men in the room stayed motionless, holding their breaths.
  3. (transitive) To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady.
    • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene vii]:
      Lord Mayor of London. See, where he stands between two clergymen!
      Duke of Buckingham. Two props of virtue for a Christian prince,
      To stay him from the fall of vanity:
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Exodus 17:12 ↗:
      But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
    • 1725, John Dryden, transl., Virgil’s Husbandry, or an Essay on the Georgics‎, London, Book 2, p. 37:
      Sallows and Reeds, on Banks of Rivers born,
      Remain to cut; for Vineyards useful found,
      To stay thy Vines and fence thy fruitful Ground.
  4. (transitive) To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.
    • 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter XX, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC ↗:
      […] he has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, as fast as Phoebe could cut it, and it has not staid his stomach for a minute […]
  5. (transitive) To stop or delay something.
    1. To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder.
      • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene ii]:
        Your ships are stay’d at Venice.
      • 1671, John Evelyn, John Evelyn's Diary, entry dated 14 November, 1671, in The Diary of John Evelyn, London: Macmillan, 1906, Volume 2, p. 337,
        This business staid me in London almost a week […]
      • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 5, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC ↗, book III, page 207 ↗:
        […] I was willing to stay my Reader on an Argument, that appears to me new […]
      • 1859, Charles Dickens, chapter 6, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC ↗:
        The task of recalling him from the vagrancy into which he always sank when he had spoken, was like recalling some very weak person from a swoon, or endeavouring, in the hope of some disclosure, to stay the spirit of a fast-dying man.
      • 2010, Howard Jacobson, chapter 9, in The Finkler Question, New York: Bloomsbury:
        She rose to leave but Libor stayed her.
    2. To restrain; withhold; check; stop.
      • 1597, Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book 5, in The Works of Mr. Richard Hooker, London: Andrew Crook, 1666, p. ,
        […] all that may but with any the least shew of possibility stay their mindes from thinking that true, which they heartily wish were false, but cannot think it so […]
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 1 Samuel 24:7 ↗:
        So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul.
      • 1852, Charlotte Brontë, letter cited in Elizabeth Gaskell, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, 1857, Volume 2, Chapter 10,
        […] you must follow the impulse of your own inspiration. If THAT commands the slaying of the victim, no bystander has a right to put out his hand to stay the sacrificial knife: but I hold you a stern priestess in these matters.
      • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC ↗, page 23 ↗:
        Between Pegāna and the Earth flutter ten thousand thousand prayers that beat their wings against the face of Death, and never for one of them hath the hand of the Striker been stayed, nor yet have tarried the feet of the Relentless One.
    3. To cause to cease; to put an end to.
      • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene i]:
        Now stay your strife […]
    4. To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back.
      The governor stayed the execution until the appeal could be heard.
      • 1935, Pearl S. Buck, A House Divided‎, London: Methuen, Part 1, p. 137:
        Without one word to deny himself, Yuan let himself be bound, his hands behind his back, and no one could stay the matter.
  6. (transitive) To hold the attention of.
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To bear up under; to endure; to hold out against; to resist.
    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
      She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
      Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes,
  8. (transitive, obsolete) To wait for; await.
    • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene ii]:
      My father stays my coming;
    • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene ii]:
      Let me stay the growth of his beard,
  9. (transitive, obsolete) To remain for the purpose of; to stay to take part in or be present at (a meal, ceremony etc.).
    • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene ii]:
      I stay dinner there.
    • 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story, Oxford, published 2009, page 177:
      Some of the company staid supper, which prevented the embarrassment that must unavoidably have arisen, had the family been by themselves.
    • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC ↗:
      How glad they had been to hear papa invite him to stay dinner, how sorry when he said it was quite out of his power […]
  10. (intransitive, obsolete) To rest; depend; rely.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Isaiah 30:12 ↗:
      Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene ii]:
      I stay here on my bond.
  11. (intransitive, obsolete) To stop; come to a stand or standstill.
  12. (intransitive, archaic) To come to an end; cease.
    That day the storm stayed.
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iv]:
      Here my commission stays,
  13. (intransitive, archaic) To dwell; linger; tarry; wait.
    • 1700, John Dryden, Fables Ancient and Modern‎, London: Jacob Tonson, dedicatory epistle:
      Yet not to be wholly silent of all your Charities I must stay a little on one Action, which preferr’d the Relief of Others, to the Consideration of your Self.
  14. (intransitive, dated) To make a stand; to stand firm.
  15. (intransitive) To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or persevere to the end; to show staying power.
    That horse stays well.
  16. (intransitive, obsolete) To wait; rest in patience or expectation.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene iv]:
      I’ll tell thee all my whole device / When I am in my coach, which stays for us.
    • 1693, [John Locke], “(please specify the section number)”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC ↗, page 260 ↗:
      The Father cannot stay any longer for the Portion, nor the Mother for a new Sett of Babies to play with […]
  17. (intransitive, obsolete, used with on or upon) To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious or submissive attendance.
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
      I have a servant comes with me along,
      That stays upon me […]
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iii]:
      Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.
  18. (intransitive, Scotland, South Africa, India, US South, AAVE, colloquial) To live; reside
    Hey, where do you stay at?
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Noun

stay (plural stays)

  1. Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.
    Synonyms: sojourn
    I hope you enjoyed your stay in Hawaii.
  2. (legal) A postponement, especially of an execution or other punishment.
    The governor granted a stay of execution.
  3. (archaic) A stop; a halt; a break or cessation of action, motion, or progress.
    stand at a stay
    • 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Another on the ſame”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC ↗, page 29 ↗:
      Made of ſphear-metal, never to decay / Untill his revolution was at ſtay.
    • a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC ↗:
      Affaires of state […] seemed rather to stand at a stay.
  4. A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence.
  5. (nautical) A station or fixed anchorage for vessels.
  6. Restraint of passion; prudence; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety.
    • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC ↗:
      The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.
    • 1633, George Herbert, The Church Porch:
      Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds and stays.
    • 1705, John Philips, Blenheim:
      With prudent stay he long deferred / The rough contention.
  7. (obsolete) Hindrance; let; check.
    • 1551, Thomas More, “(please specify the Internet Archive page)”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC ↗:
      They were able to read good authors without any stay, if the book were not false.
Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English stay, from Old French estaye, estaie ("a prop, a stay"), from Middle Dutch staeye, a contracted form of staede, stade "a prop, stay, help, aid"; compare Middle Dutch staeyen, staeden ("to make firm, stay, support, hold still, stabilise"), from odt *stad, from Proto-Germanic *stadiz, from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.

Noun

stay (plural stays)

  1. A prop; a support.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
      My onely strength and stay.
    • 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
      The trees themselves serve, at the same time, as so many stays for their Vines
    • April 27, 1823, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk
      Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.
  2. A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing.
    Where are the stays for my collar?
  3. (in the plural) A corset.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White‎:
      Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on her shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place, it filled out its natural circle, it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by stays.
    • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC ↗:
      When Jenny's stays are newly laced.
  4. (archaic) A fastening for a garment; a hook; a clasp; anything to hang another thing on.
Etymology 3

From Middle English stay, from Old English stæġ, from Proto-Germanic *stagą, from Proto-Indo-European *stek-, *stāk-, from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.

Noun

stay (plural stays)

  1. (nautical) A strong rope or wire supporting a mast, and leading from one masthead down to some other, or other part of the vessel.
  2. A guy, rope, or wire supporting or stabilizing a platform, such as a bridge, a pole, such as a tentpole, the mast of a derrick, or other structural element.
    The engineer insisted on using stays for the scaffolding.
  3. The transverse piece in a chain-cable link.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Verb

stay (stays, present participle staying; simple past and past participle stayed)

  1. To brace or support with a stay or stays
    stay a mast
  2. (transitive, nautical) To incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays.
  3. (transitive, nautical) To tack; put on the other tack.
    to stay ship
  4. (intransitive, nautical) To change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship.
Etymology 4

From Middle English *steȝe, from Old English *stǣġe, an apocopated variant of stǣġel ("steep, abrupt"), from Proto-West Germanic *staigil, see sty.

Adjective

stay (comparative stayer, superlative stayest)

  1. (UK dialectal) Steep; ascending.
  2. (UK dialectal) (of a roof) Steeply pitched.
  3. (UK dialectal) Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.
  4. (UK dialectal) Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud.
Adverb

stay (comparative stayer, superlative stayest)

  1. (UK dialectal) Steeply.
Stay
Proper noun
  1. Surname.


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