Now chiefly literary in Gt. Brit., still colloq. in U.S. Forms: 4–6 tarye, 4–7 tarie, tary, (5 tery, tare), 6 tarrye, 6–7 terrie, 5– tarry. [Of obscure origin: some would identify it with TARY v. to irritate, or with TAR v.2, tarre, OE. tęrȝan to vex; to both of which the sense is an obstacle. See Note below.]
† 1. trans. To delay, retard, defer, put off (a thing, an action); to protract, prolong. Obs.
c. 1320. R. Brunne, Medit., 597. Thos howndes were lothe hys deþ for to tarye.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Reeve’s Prol., 51. Sey forth thy tale, and tarie nat the tyme.
1388. Wyclif, Ecclus. iv. 3. Tarie thou not [Vulg. non protrahas] the ȝifte to a man that is set in angwisch.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XI. vii. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 109/2. Ȝif rayn is yuel and distemporat … it … tarieth and letteþ repinges of corne and of fruyte.
1494. Fabyan, Chron., VII. ccxxxviii. 278. That he shulde for no mede tary rightfull sentence.
1583. Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., IV. 52 b. Whiche Citie not meanyng to tarrie the siege, rendred to the saied Count.
† 2. To detain, delay, retard, keep back (a person or agent) for a time; to keep waiting; to hold in check, impede, hinder. Obs.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 3921. Þat he may … In purgatory qwyte alle þe dett, Þat hym fra blis may tary or lett.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 65. I wol nat taryen yow for it is pryme.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 235. Duke William and his men were longe y-taried in Seynt Valerik his haven.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XVIII. vii. 735. Sir kyng, he sayd, tary me noo lenger for I may not tary.
1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps. xxix. 7. So many stops tary us and stay us back.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., I. 114 b. But gif … the parties wald set them to tary the court, with exceptions frivolous.
3. intr. To delay or be tardy in beginning or doing anything, esp. in coming or going; to wait before doing something; to linger, loiter.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 3128. I coniure þe … þatou titli me telle & tarie nouȝ no lenger.
1382. Wyclif, Ecclus. xiv. 12. Be thou myndeful for deth shal not tarien [Vulg. mors non tardat].
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet, 60/445. Bot chaistese þam & tery noght.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 489/2. Teryyn [MS. S. tarryyn] or longe a-bydyn, moror. pigritor.
1489. Caxton, Faytes of A., III. xii. 193. Yf he had taried to the morn after.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, III. (1622), 238. Not daring to tary long about it.
1611. Bible, Judg. v. 28. Why tarie the wheeles of his charets?
1693. Congreve, Old Bach., IV. i. Nothing can be done here till I go, so that I’ll tarry, d’ye see?
1756. C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, I. 32. The waters cannot tarry long in their passage, but … run towards the … level grounds.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 610. He saw that if he tarried the royal cavalry would soon be in his rear.
1892. Nation (N. Y.), 27 Oct., 318/2. The good monks … were … going to attend high mass…, so we had no time to tarry.
b. To linger in expectation of a person or occurrence, or until something is done or happens; to wait. Const. till, for, Sc. on, upon (with indirect passive).
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 187. This false knyht … Hath taried til thei were aslepe.
1515. Barclay, Egloges, iv. (1570), D j b/2. What, tary man a while till better fortune come.
1526. Tindale, John xxi. 23. Yf I will have hym to tary [Wyclif dwelle, 1611 tarry] tyll I come what is that to the?
1535. Coverdale, Tobit v. 7. I praye the, tary for me, tyll I haue tolde my father.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 274. I … would tary to se the ende.
1580. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 427. Euphues knowing the tyde would tarrye for no man.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., I. 124*. He quha is challenged sall be taried vpon, vntill he returne hayme.
1765. M. Cutler, in Life, etc. (1888), I. 9. Then the sacrament was administered (which I did not tarry to see).
1816. Scott, Antiq., i. Time and tide tarry for no man.
1870. E. Peacock, Ralf Skirl., I. 167. They had not long to tarry for the coming of their host.
† 4. intr. To remain, stay, abide, continue (in some state or condition). Obs.
c. 1450. Lovelich, Merlin, 4521. Thus it Taryede jn-to pentecost feste.
1480. Robt. Devyll, 25, in Hazl., E. P. P., I. 219. Wyueles longe, said the duke, haue I taryed.
1551. T. Wilson, Logike (1580), 38. If the generall woorde be taken awaie, the kinde tarieth not.
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 17 b/2. Els the ioyncte might be criple, and tarrye lame.
1637–50. Row, Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.), 488. Pardoned by the King, provyding they tarie well in tyme comeing.
1776. R. King, in Life & Corr. (1894), I. 24. Few of the men now with Genl. will tarry longer than the expiration of their enlistments.
1814. Scott, Wav., xii. Declining the Baron’s invitation to tarry till after dinner [etc.].
b. To abide temporarily, to sojourn; to stay, remain, lodge (in a place). arch. exc. in U. S.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 87. I schal tee in-to Tarce, & tary þere a whyle.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), VI. 127. The Danes taryenge in wynter at Repyndoun.
1538. Elyot, Pernocto..., to tarye all the nyghte.
1599. Massinger, etc., Old Law, IV. i. As long as she tarried with her husband, she was Ellen.
1611. Bible, Ps. lxviii. 12. She that taried at home, diuided the spoile.
1741. Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. cii. 499. Miss Cope came … and tarried with me three days.
1766. J. Ingersoll, Lett. Stamp-Act, 62. I tarried that Night at Mr. Bishop’s.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., Leg. Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane … sojourned, or, as he expressed it, ‘tarried,’ in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity.
1850. Hawthorne, Scarlet L., viii. I must tarry at home, and keep watch over my little Pearl.
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxv. 2. Ortalus, I no more tarry the Muses among.
1877. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (ed. 3), II. x. 469. There they were to tarry [earlier edd. remain] through Lent.
5. trans. To wait for, wait in expectation of; to await, expect; † to stay for (a meal). † Tarry out, to stay till the end of. To tarry a person’s leisure: see LEISURE 3 c. arch.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), VI. 23. Messias whom þe Iues taryede.
1579. G. Harvey, Lett. to Spenser, Wks. (Grosart), I. 20. The Tyde tarryeth no manne, but manye a good manne is fayne to tarry the Tyde.
1654. Evelyn, Diary, 10 July. On Monday, I went again to the schools,… and … tarried out the whole Act in St. Mary’s.
a. 1662. Heylin, Laud (1668), 176. He caused me to tarry Dinner with him.
1829. Lytton, Devereux, I. viii. I pressed him … to tarry your coming.
1868. Milman, St. Paul’s, xi. 283. The Lord Mayor tarried the sermon, which lasted into the night.
† b. To outstay, stay over (a given time). Obs.
a. 1500[?]. Symmye & Bruder, 66, in Bannatyne Poems (Hunter. Cl.), 416. Bot or thay twynd him and his dudis, The tyme of none wes tareit; Wa worth this wedding, for be thir widis, The meit is al miskareit.
[Note. It cannot be disputed that the ME. forms of this verb are identical with those of TARY ‘to provoke, irritate, harass, vex, excite,’ both being in ME. tery-, tary- (the spelling tarry being rare before 1500). Original identity with tary, and thus derivation from OE. tęrȝan, would also account for the apparent identity of tarry and TARROW, since both could go back to the OE. variant types tęrȝan (tærȝan), tęrw(i)an (tærw(i)an), with phonetic development according to the position of the ȝ and w in different inflected forms: cf. HARROW and HARRY, worow and WORRY. The consequent identification with OF. tarier might also help to explain the existence of the derivatives tarriage, tarriance, tarryment, with French suffixes (although it is to be noted that these appear as derivatives of tarry and not of tary).
But no sense in the least approaching ‘tarry’ occurs in OE. tęrȝan, tęrw(i)an or in OF. tarier, and the difficulty of deriving this sense from that of ‘provoke, vex, harass’ seems almost insurmountable. Some have suggested an influence upon tarry of the synonymous TARGE v.1, OF. targier; but this seems impossible. Others, seeing that ME. terwen, terre, TAR v.2 and TARY had both a (rare) sense (2) ‘to weary, fatigue, tire’ (as if influenced by OE. téorian, ME. tiere, tere, TIRE) have thought that this sense provided a connecting link between the notions of ‘vex’ and ‘delay, retard’; but there is nothing in the quotations to confirm this view, and the actual history of tarry in its existing sense remains unascertained.]
