postpone, v.
(pəʊstˈpəʊn)
Also 6 Sc. postpo(y)n.
[ad. L. postpōnĕre to put after, postpone, neglect, f. post after + pōnĕre to place, put down.
In 16th c. exclusively Sc.; rare in Eng. before 1700.]
1. a. trans. To put off to a future or later time; to defer. (With simple obj.; in 16th c., also with inf.)
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems ix. 90 Of vertew postponyng, and syn aganis nateur. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 151 Becaus it wes so neir that tyme the nycht, Postponit all quhill on the morne wes lycht. Ibid. 283 This Edilfrid and Brudeus also, Postponit hes to battell for till go. 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 389 The said Robert wranguslie postponis and differis to do the same. 1710 Palmer Proverbs 186 Every man..wou'd have all business post-pon'd for the service he expects from a patron or friend. 1726 Berkeley Let. to Prior 15 Mar., 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 Helps Soc. Press. iii. 58, I propose, therefore, that we should postpone any remarks that we have to make. |
| absol. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxx. 28 My brethir oft hes maid the supplicationis,..To tak the abyte, bot thow did postpone. |
† b. To ‘put (a person) off’,
i.e. to keep (him) waiting for something promised or expected.
Obs.| [1533 Gau Richt Vay (S.T.S.) 90 Giff vss grace to haiff pacience quhen our wil is postponit.] 1571 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 90 Thay ar..hinderit and postponit of payment of thair stipendis. a 1700 Dryden (J.), You wou'd postpone me to another reign, Till when you are content to be unjust. 1705 Hearne Collect. 25 Nov. (O.H.S.) I. 98 Dr. Hudson..having many Promises from..the Bishops..was yet shamefully postpon'd by them. |
c. intr. Path. Of ague or the like: To be later in coming on or recurring.
| 1843 Sir T. Watson Lect. Princ. & Pract. 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. Diseases ii. 42 They [i.e. malarial attacks] may occur at a later hour, in which case they are said to postpone. |
2. To place after in serial order or arrangement; to put at, or nearer to, the end.
| c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 31 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 Power Pros. 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 Mythol. I. 55 We sometimes find the governing word postponed, as in Elizabeth, or temple of Eliza. 1874 H. J. Roby Gram. Latin Lang. II. 351 Most prepositions are prefixed to the substantive; a few are always postponed; others are occasionally but rarely postponed in prose. |
3. To place after in order of precedence, rank, importance, estimation, or value; to put into an inferior position; to subordinate.
| 1658 Phillips, Postpone, to set behinde, to esteem lesse then another. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. ii. 51 You have postpon'd the publick interest to your own. 1741 T. Robinson Gavelkind vi. 91 Females claiming in their own Right are postponed to Males. 1799 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 272 Postponing motives of delicacy to those of duty. 1893 Snell Primer Ital. Lit. 65 On the score of productiveness even Machiavelli must be postponed to him. |
Hence
postponed (
-ˈpəʊnd)
ppl. a.,
postˈponing vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1693 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 174 They should have their money to a farthing without any postponing. 1709 Stanhope Paraphr. IV. 4 Ascribing the postponing of the Jews to their own Obstinacy. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxv, Anxious for the postponed explanation. 1863 Reade in All Year Round 12 Dec. 367 [In a trial at law] the postponing swindler has five to one in his favour. 1904 Daily Chron. 7 June 6/7 Postponed purchases or postponed payments are the rule everywhere. |