1. put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone: "they deferred the decision until February"
▪ (of a judge) postpone (a sentence) so that the circumstances or conduct of the defendant can be further assessed: "the judge deferred sentence until 5 April for background reports"
▪ postpone the conscription of (someone):"he was no longer deferred from the draft"
Word Originlate Middle English (also in the sense ‘put on one side’): from Old French differer ‘defer or differ’, from Latin differre, from dis- ‘apart’ + ferre ‘bring, carry’. Compare with defer2 and differ.
