postponev.
/pəˈspəʊn/, /pəʊs(t)ˈpəʊn/, U.S. /ˌpoʊs(t)ˈpoʊn/, /pəˈspoʊn/, Scottish English /pos(t)ˈpon/, /pəˈspon/ Originally Scottish.
1. † c. intransitive. Medicine. Of (an attack of) fever: to be (successively) later in recurring. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To put off to the future; to arrange for (an event, etc.) to take place at a later time; to defer. Also intransitive.Usually with simple object, but occasionally with clause or, in early use (esp. in 16th and 17th cent.), with infinitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (transitive)]
forslowc888
eldc897
forsita940
gele971
lengOE
drilla1300
delayc1300
onfrestc1300
tarryc1320
jornc1330
dretchc1380
defer1382
forbida1387
to put offa1387
to put (also set) (something) in (or on) delaya1393
dilate1399
fordrawa1400
to put overc1410
latch?c1422
adjournc1425
prolongc1425
proloynec1425
rejournc1425
to put in respite1428
sleuthc1430
respitea1450
prorogue1453
refer1466
sleep1470
supersede1482
respectc1487
postpone1496
overseta1500
respett1500
enjourna1513
relong1523
retract1524
tarde1524
track1524
to fode forth1525
tract1527
protract1528
further1529
to make stay of1530
surcease1530
prorogate1534
to fay upon longc1540
linger1543
retard?1543
slake1544
procrastine1548
reprieve1548
remit1550
suspense1556
leave1559
shiftc1562
suspend1566
procrastinate1569
dally1574
post1577
to hold off1580
drift1584
loiter1589
postpose1598
to take one's (own) timea1602
flag1602
slug1605
elong1610
belay1613
demur1613
tardya1616
to hang up1623
frist1637
disjourn1642
future1642
off1642
waive1653
superannuate1655
perendinate1656
stave1664
detard1675
remora1686
to put back1718
withhold1726
protract1737
to keep over1847
to hold over1853
laten1860
to lay over1885
hold1891
back-burner1975
1496 [implied in: 1496 in G. Neilson & H. Paton Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1918) II. 8 For the wrangus postponyng and differring to pay..to the saide Robert of Bruse..the money forsaid. (at postponing n.)].
1498 in G. Neilson & H. Paton Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1918) II. 195 And gif the sadis James..fraudfully postponis til enter to the sadis landis..he sall refound [etc.].
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 249 My brethir oft hes maid the supplicationis..To tak the abyte, bot thow did postpone.
1574 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 389 The said Robert wranguslie postponis and differis to do the same.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 151 Becaus it wes so neir that tyme the nycht, Postponit all quhill on the morne wes lycht.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 283 This Edilfrid and Brudeus also, Postponit hes to battell for till go.
1671 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1872) II. 276 That Mr. John Forbes, shirreff depute..did postpone and delay to administer justice wpon persons attachit be him.
1710 S. Palmer Moral Ess. Prov. 186 Every man..wou'd have all business post-pon'd for the service he expects from a patron or friend.
1726 G. Berkeley Let. 15 Mar. in Wks. (1871) IV. 124 The answer to other points you postponed for a few posts.
1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 177 The project had to be postponed.
1875 A. Helps Social Pressure iii. 58 I propose, therefore, that we should postpone any remarks that we have to make.
1940 J. F. Kennedy Why Eng. Slept viii. 188 From his words we can see that he was still hopeful that his policy of appeasement would postpone any trouble for at least two more years.
1989 Scots Mag. Mar. 602/1 I am convinced that there's a limit to the time we can postpone making a start.
b. transitive. To put (a person) off; to keep (someone) waiting for something promised or expected.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (transitive)] > a person
tarry1340
deferc1384
delaya1425
prolongc1425
supersede1517
postpone1518
linger1534
belate1642
while off1646
remit1663
1518 in W. C. Dickinson Sheriff Court Bk. Fife (1928) 108 The said James protestyt for the largest price of wictualis..because that he..was postponit & deferryt tharfra be the said lady.
1571 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 90 Thay ar..hinderit and postponit of payment of thair stipendis.
1689 Irish Hudibras 12 Poor Nees shou'd chance to be postpond.
1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 25 Nov. (1885) I. 98 Dr. Hudson..having many Promises from..the Bishops..was yet shamefully postpon'd by them.
1713 H. Wanley Let. 17 Dec. (1989) 286 And if it is your Noble Intention that I shall not now be Postponed, Your [Ex]cellence..easily knoweth How to induce His Grace to consent that You..shou'd Now Encourage an Old Servant to Serve You.
1989 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 26 Mar. 1 e We don't postpone clients, we don't postpone customers, we don't postpone friends.
2003 Consumer Bankruptcy News (Nexis) 10 Feb. They can be said to act with intent to delay if they intend to slow or postpone their creditors.
ΚΠ
1699 Etmullerus Abridg'd 208 While a Tertian anticipates its hours, it increases; and declines when it begins to postpone.
1791 R. Jackson Treat. Fevers Jamaica ii. 23 It would appear upon the whole, that the cause, why a fever anticipates or postpones, depends upon something that is peculiar to the particular nature of the disease.
1843 T. Watson Lect. Physic I. xl. 709 When the paroxysm thus postpones, the disease is growing milder; when it anticipates its usual period of attack, the disease is increasing in severity.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. ii. 42 They [i.e. malarial attacks] may occur at a later hour, in which case they are said to postpone.
2. transitive. To place after in order of precedence, importance, value, etc.; to put into an inferior position, subordinate; (Law) to demote (a creditor or claim) in priority or ranking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [verb (transitive)] > place after in order of estimation or importance
postponea1522
postpose1598
subordinate1620
posthabit1646
postposit1661
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. i. 20 A land Iuno..abuf al otheris maid; Hir native land for it postponyt sche Callit Same.
1597 W. Fowler Wks. (1914) I. 7 Postponing private wealth to publicke weale.
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Postpone, to set behinde, to esteem lesse then another.
1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa i. ii. 51 You have postpon'd the publick interest to your own.
1717 Acts Sederunt Scotl. (1740) I. 244 Without extracting the Debate anent his being postponed, but only relating in general, that such Rights are preferred to him.
1741 T. Robinson Common Law of Kent vi. 91 Females claiming in their own Right are postponed to Males.
1773 J. Erskine Institute III. ix. §46 Legatees, being gratuitous creditors, are postponed to the onerous creditors of the deceased.
1860 R. W. Emerson Behaviour in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 173 Her air and manner will at once betray..that there is some other one or many of her class, to whom she habitually postpones herself.
1893 F. J. Snell Primer Ital. Lit. 65 On the score of productiveness even Machiavelli must be postponed to him.
1927 [implied in: W. M. Gloag & R. C. Henderson Introd. Law Sc. 566 Postponed creditors, entitled to be ranked after all other creditors have been paid in full, are [etc.]. (at postponed adj.)].
3. transitive. To place after in serial order or arrangement; to put at, or nearer to, the end; (Grammar) to place (a grammatical element) after another, to move to the end of a sentence, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > preceding or following in order > precede or follow in order [verb (transitive)] > place after in order
postpose1598
postplace1599
postponec1620
postliminiate1659
postliminate1690
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > have syntactic relation with [verb (transitive)] > place after
postpose1598
postponec1620
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) ii. viii. §9 We bid our inferioures, and pray our superioures, be [= by] postponing the supposit to the verb; As, goe ye and teach al nationes.
1680 G. Hickes Spirit of Popery Pref. 6 He hath Postponed the most scandalous part of his Speech..and put it towards the end.
1749 J. Mason Ess. Power & Harmony Prosaic Numbers 66 Cicero..often postpones to the very last, that Verb or emphatical Word on which the whole Sense of the Period depends.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. 55 We sometimes find the governing word postponed, as in Elizabeth, or temple of Eliza.
1874 H. J. Roby Gram. Lat. Lang. II. 351 Most prepositions are prefixed to the substantive; a few are always postponed; others are occasionally but rarely postponed in prose.
1972 R. Quirk et al. Gram. Contemp. Eng. 966 Sometimes only part of an element is postponed... The units most readily postponed are nominal..clauses.
1987 M. Short & G. Leech Style in Fiction (BNC) 101 This information is postponed to the end of the main clause.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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