延迟 (yán chí) — to delay, to postpone | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

More formal/written than 推迟 (yánchí is standard in technical, official, and news contexts like flights, systems, and projects). Both mean 'to delay/postpone.'

verb

to delayto postpone

Examples

，延迟。
Yóu yú tiān qì yuán yīn, háng bān yán chí le liǎng gè xiǎo shí.
Due to weather, the flight was delayed by two hours.
延迟，。
Zhè ge xiàng mù de jìn dù yán chí le, wǒ men yào jiā kuài sù dù.
The progress of this project has been delayed; we need to speed up.
延迟，。
Xì tǒng xiǎng yìng yán chí le, qǐng shāo hòu zài shì.
The system response is delayed; please try again later.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

延yánprolong/postpone

延 means to prolong or put off, and 迟 means late; together they express making something happen later.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

彳彳chìwalking
止止zhǐfoot

The shape of 延 adds a top stroke to a form showing 彳 (walking) and 止 (foot), originally meaning to travel far, to show prolonging.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

辶尺迟

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòmotion

Sound part声符shēngfú

尺

尺chǐ迟chí

Same sound today

迟 pairs 辶, a walking sign, with 尺, used for the sound.

Appears in

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