deferral
UK[dɪˈfɜːrəl]US[dɪˈfɜːrəl]
n
the action of delaying something until a later time
n
an official permission to delay something, especially the payment of a debt or military service
Morpheme Breakdown
defer
ral
defer
delay
ral
noun suffix
Etymology
the word 'deferral' is built upon the verb 'defer', which entered english from the old french 'differer'. this, in turn, traces back to the latin verb 'differre', a compound of 'dis-' (apart) and 'ferre' (to bear, carry). the literal sense of carrying something apart evolved into the abstract meaning of postponement or delay. the suffix '-al', of latin origin, is commonly attached to verbs to form nouns denoting an action or its result, thus 'deferral' precisely means the act or instance of deferring.
Analysis
Structure: defer (delay) + ral (noun suffix)
defer (from latin 'differre', meaning to carry apart, postpone, delay), ral (a variant of the noun-forming suffix '-al', from latin '-alis', indicating an action or result)
Examples
the company announced a deferral of the project's launch date.
he applied for a student loan deferral while he completed his studies.
the tax deferral allowed them to invest the money elsewhere in the interim.