Stay Definition

stā
stayed, staying, stays
verb
stayed, staying, stays
To continue in the place or condition specified; remain; keep.
To stay at home, to stay healthy.
Webster's New World
To brace or support with a stay or stays.
Webster's New World
To support, or prop up.
Webster's New World
To live, dwell, or reside, esp. temporarily (for the time specified)
Webster's New World
To strengthen, comfort, or sustain in mind or spirit.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun
A brief period of residence or visiting.
American Heritage
The consequence of such an order.
American Heritage
Anything used as a support, or prop.
Webster's New World
A postponement or delay in legal action or proceedings.
A stay of execution.
Webster's New World
The act of coming to a halt.
American Heritage
Antonyms:
adjective

(UK dialectal) Steep; ascending.

Wiktionary

(UK dialectal) (of a roof) Steeply pitched.

Wiktionary

(UK dialectal) Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.

Wiktionary
Wiktionary
adverb

(UK dialectal) Steeply.

Wiktionary
idiom
stay put
  • To remain in a fixed or established position.
American Heritage
stay the course
  • To hold out or persevere to the end of a race or challenge.
American Heritage
stay with (one)
  • To remain in one's memory; not be forgotten:

    That kind of compliment stays with you for years.

American Heritage
in stays
Webster's New World
stay put
  • to remain in place or unchanged
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Stay

Noun

Singular:
stay
Plural:
stays

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Stay

Origin of Stay

  • 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 Old Dutch *stad (“a site, place, location, standing"), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“a standing, place"), from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand"). Influenced by Old English stæġ ("a stay, rope"; see above). Cognate with Old English stede, stæde (“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.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English *staye, from Old French estaye, estaie (“a prop, a 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 Old Dutch *stad (“a site, place, location, standing"), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“a standing, place"), from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand"). See above.

    From Wiktionary

  • An alternative etymology derives Old French estaye, estaie, from Old Frankish *staka (“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.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English *stay, from Old English stæġ (“stay, a rope supporting a mast"), from Proto-Germanic *stagÄ… (“stay, rope"), from Proto-Indo-European *stek-, *stāk- (“stand, pole"), from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand"). Cognate with Dutch stag (“stay"), German Stag (“stay"), Swedish stag (“stay"), Icelandic stag (“stay").

    From Wiktionary

  • 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.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English *steȝe, from Old English *stǣġe, an apocopated variant of Old English stǣġel (“steep, abrupt"), from Proto-Germanic *staigilaz (“climbing, ascending, sloping, steep"), see sty.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English steien from Old French ester, esteir from Latin stāre stā- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English staien from Old French estaiier from estaie a support of Germanic origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English from Old English stæg

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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