stay

Meanings

Verb

• 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; 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.
• To remain for the purpose of; to stay to take part in or be present at (a meal, ceremony etc.).
• To rest; depend; rely.
• To stop; come to a stand or standstill.
• To come to an end; cease.
• To dwell; linger; tarry; wait.
• To make a stand; to stand firm.
• To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or persevere to the end.
• To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.
• To wait; rest in patience or expectation.
• To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious or submissive attendance.
• To continue to have a particular quality.
• To live; reside
• 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.

Noun

• 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.

Adjective

• Steep; ascending.
• Steeply pitched.
• Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.
• Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud.

Adverb

• Steeply.

Related

Similar words

• bear, prop up, uphold
• contend, break a lance, stand firm, take a stand
• mastrope

Narrower meaning words

• backstay, forestay, mainstay, triatic stay

Origin

• From Middle English steyen, staien, from Old French estayer, estaier, from estaye, estaie, from Middle Dutch staeye ("a prop, stay"), a contracted form of staede, stade (compare Middle Dutch staeyen, staeden), from Frankish *stad ("a site, place, location, standing"), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz ("a standing, place"), from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis ("standing"). Influenced by Old English stæġ . Cognate with Old English stede, stæde, 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, 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 *staku, 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. More at stake, stick.
• , from Old Dutch *stad ("a site, place, location, standing"), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz ("a standing, place"), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ("to stand"). See above.
• From Middle English stay, from Old English stæġ, from Proto-Germanic *stagą, from Proto-Indo-European *stek-, *stāk-, from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-. Cognate with Dutch stag, German Stag, Swedish stag, Icelandic stag.
• From Middle English *steȝe, from Old English *stǣġe, an apocopated variant of stǣġel, from Proto-Germanic *staigilaz ("climbing, ascending, sloping, steep"), see sty.