tarry

tarry¹ linger, delay

Pronunciation

• /ˈtæ.ɹi/, /ˈtɛɹ.i/^[1]

Etymology

The word for lingering is inherited from Middle English tarien,^[2][3][4] also taryen,^[5] of obscure origin.^[6][3][7][5] The OED notes that its Middle English forms are identical with those of the obsolete tary, "to provoke, irritate, vex", which goes back to Old English tergan (“to vex”) and Old French tarier (“to provoke”), yet neither of them has any sense close to "delay".^[6][8][9] Barnhart also finds that identification hard to accept,^[5] although Partridge derives the verb from the Old English one,^[10] and the Middle English Dictionary allows some connection for two of its senses.^[3] Weekley points out that the sense is exactly that of targier, from Vulgar Latin *tardiō, from Latin tardus (“late”), but that this does not fit the sounds,^[11] and the OED calls any influence from this French verb impossible.^[6] Etymonline reports a suggested link with Latin tardō (“to delay”).^[12] Johnson (1755) derived it from French targir.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To delay or put off an action, about 1320, in a translation of Bonaventura's Meditations.^[6] Etymonline likewise dates it to the early 14th century,^[12] while Barnhart finds taryen probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first uses were transitive: to put something off (until 1583) and to hold someone back (1340 to 1609).^[6][9] Before 1375, in William of Palerne, the verb is intransitive, "to be slow to act, to linger",^[6][3] and in 1390, in Gower, "to linger in expectation, to wait".^[6] Both Chaucer and Gower use it often for delaying and wasting time.^[14] From about 1400 it also means to stay in a place for a while, a sense the OED calls archaic except in the United States.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave "to stay" and "to delay", and quoted Shakespeare's transitive "I cannot tarry dinner".^[13] The verb is now mainly archaic and literary,^[9] though the English Dialect Dictionary records it in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Gloucestershire; in Lancashire, children tarried at noon when they stayed at school for dinner.^[15] The noun meant delay from 1451 to 1745, and a sojourn from about 1480, now chiefly in American use.^[6][9] In American history, tarrying was also a local courtship custom in which a couple lay together clothed in a blanket.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1320 – transitive, to delay or put off a thing (until 1583).^[6]
• 1340 – transitive, to detain a person (until 1609).^[6]
• before 1375 – intransitive, to be slow to act, to linger.^[6][3]
• 1390 – intransitive, to wait for someone or something.^[6]
• c. 1400 – to stay in a place for a time, to sojourn.^[6]
• 1451 – noun, delay (until 1745).^[6]
• before 1475 – transitive, to wait for.^[6]
• c. 1480 – noun, a stay, a sojourn.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To linger, or to be slow in coming or going: The guests tarried over coffee until the last ferry had gone.^[16][4][6]
2. To stay in a place for a time; to sojourn: They tarried a week at the inn.^[16][6][9]
3. To wait, in expectation of a person or an event.^[16][4][6]
4. To wait for; to await (archaic).^[16][4][6]
5. To put off or prolong a thing (obsolete, c. 1320–1583).^[6][9]
6. To hold back or detain a person (obsolete, 1340–1609).^[6][9][4]

Noun

1. A stay or sojourn (rare; chiefly US).^[16][4][6]
2. Delay (obsolete, 1451–1745).^[6][9]

Word family

• tarrier
• tarriance
• untarried
• untarrying

tarry² of or like tar

Etymology tree of tarry²

inherited borrowed derived

English tar

English tarry

Pronunciation

• /ˈtɑː.ɹi/^[1]

Etymology

The word for something of or like tar is formed from English tar + -y.^{[6][12][4][9][17]} The noun is from Old English teoru (“tar, bitumen, resin”).^[12][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Consisting of tar or like tar: 1552, in Huloet's Abcedarium.^[6][4][12] Etymonline has terrie, "like tar", already in the early 15th century,^[12] and the Shorter Oxford also dates the adjective to late Middle English.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The sense "smeared or soiled with tar" follows before 1585.^[6][12] A figurative use for something foul or uncouth is recorded by the OED from 1579, with a question mark.^[6] Because things cling to tar, tarry fingers meant a thief's hands in Scotland: Etymonline has tarry-fingered, "dishonest", from Jamieson (1808), and the adjective alone as "thievish" by 1822, in Galt.^[12][6][15] Tarry-breeks, a sailor, is another Scots compound, used by Burns in 1786.^[15] The sense "resembling tar in colour, consistency or flavour" is first recorded in 1880.^[6]

Timeline

• 1552 – consisting of tar, of the nature of tar.^[6][4]
• 1579 – figurative, perhaps foul or uncouth.^[6]
• before 1585 – covered or soiled with tar.^[6][12]
• 1808 – tarry-fingered, dishonest.^[12]
• 1822 – thievish.^[6][12]
• 1880 – resembling tar in consistency, colour or flavour.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Consisting of, or having the qualities of, tar: a tarry smell from the boatyard.^[4][6][9]
2. Covered or soiled with tar: tarry boots.^[4][6][9]
3. (Scots) Thievish, chiefly of the fingers or hands.^[6][15]

Word family

• tarriness