• DILL-uh-tor-ee • adjective
1 : tending or intended to cause delay
2 : characterized by procrastination : tardy
[Ro] zăbavnic, încet, (venit) cu întârziere, tardiv
The term dilatory has been used in English to describe things that cause delay since at least the 15th century. If you take the time to trace the roots of dilatory, you will discover that it derives from dilatus, the past participle of the Latin verb differre, which meant either to postpone or to differ. This verb is also an ancestor of the words different and defer.
