stay
Meanings
- To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.
- To continue to have a particular quality.
- To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady.
- To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.
- To stop or delay something.
- To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder.
- To restrain; withhold; check; stop.
- To cause to cease; to put an end to.
- To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back.
- To hold the attention of.
- To bear up under; to endure; to hold out against; to resist.
- To wait for; await.
- Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.
- A postponement, especially of an execution or other punishment.
- A stop; a halt; a break or cessation of action, motion, or progress.
- A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence.
- A station or fixed anchorage for vessels.
- Restraint of passion; prudence; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety.
- Hindrance; let; check.
- A prop; a support.
- A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing.
- A corset.
- A fastening for a garment; a hook; a clasp; anything to hang another thing on.
- A strong rope or wire supporting a mast, and leading from one masthead down to some other, or other part of the vessel.
- 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 transverse piece in a chain-cable link.
- To brace or support with a stay or stays
- To incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays.
- To tack; put on the other tack.
- To change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship.
- Steep; ascending.
- (of a roof) Steeply pitched.
- Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.
- Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud.
- Steeply.
- A surname.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
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 prop, stay”), 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 Proto-West Germanic *stadi (“a site, place, location, standing”), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“a standing, place”), from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis (“standing”). Influenced by Old English stæġ ("a stay, rope"; see below). Cognate with Old English stede (“a place, spot, locality, fixed position, station, site, standing, status, position of a moving body, stopping, standing still, stability, fixity, firmness, steadfastness”), Swedish stödja (“to prop, support, brace, hold up, bolster”), Icelandic stöðug (“continuous, stable”). More at stead, steady. Sense of "remain, continue" may be due to later influence from Old French ester, esteir (“to stand, be, continue, remain”), from Latin stāre (“stand”), 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 (“stake, post”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“stake, bar, stick, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“rod, pole, stick”), making it cognate with Old English staca (“pin, stake”), Old English stician (“to stick, be placed, lie, remain fixed”). Cognate with Albanian shtagë (“a long stick, a pole”). More at stake, stick.