tarry

Etymology 1

From Middle English tarien, terien (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirian, tirġan, terġan (“to worry, exasperate, pain, provoke, excite”), from Proto-Germanic *terganą, *targijaną (“to pull, tease, irritate”), from Proto-Indo-European *deregʰ- (“to pull, tug, irritate”). Cognate with Dutch tergen (“to provoke”), German zergen (“to vex, irritate, provoke”), Norwegian Bokmål terge (“to irritate, provoke”), Russian дёргать (djórgatʹ, “to pull, yank, jerk, pluck up”). Compare also Walloon tårdjî (“to be late, to be slow, to wait”).

verb

1. (intransitive) To delay; to be late or tardy in beginning or doing anything.
   I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming. c. 1170, Maimonides, “Thirteen principles of faith”, in Mishneh Torah
2. (intransitive) To linger in expectation of something or until something is done or happens.
3. (intransitive) To abide, stay or wait somewhere, especially if longer than planned.
4. (intransitive) To stay somewhere temporarily.
   In this by-place of nature, there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane; who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow[…]. 1820, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, published 1864
5. (transitive) To wait for; to stay or stop for; to allow to linger.
   "If I had heard otherwise," said the old man, looking up with a stern and menacing countenance, "you should have heard of it too." And he plodded on his way, tarrying no farther question. 1815, Walter Scott, chapter //dummy.host/index.php?title=s%3Aen%3AGuy+Mannering%2FVolume+1%2FChapter+8 8, in Guy Mannering, volume 1

noun

1. A sojourn.

Etymology 2

From Middle English terrie, equivalent to tar + -y.

adj

1. Resembling tar.
2. Covered with tar.