1. To stop or remain in a place:
- Example: "But stay, what light through yonder window breaks?" (Act 2, Scene 2) - Romeo pauses while speaking to admire Juliet's beauty.
2. To delay or postpone:
- Example: "I would have thought it better to have died / Than linger in this dull and tardy day, / But for thy love..." (Act 4, Scene 1) - Romeo is lamenting over Juliet's apparent death and is willing to delay his own death until he can meet her again.
3. To wait or wait for:
- Example: "Here comes the lady. Oh, so light a foot / Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint. / A lover may bestride the gossamer / That idles in the wanton summer air, / And yet not fall; so light is vanity" (Act 2, Scene 6) - Romeo is waiting for Juliet's arrival during the famous balcony scene, describing her light footsteps as barely touching the ground.
4. To support or prop up:
- Example: "Thou art thyself though, not a Montague. / What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, / Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part / Belonging to a man. O, be some other name / Belonging to a man. O, be some other name / Belonging to a man and drop the other!" (Act 2, Scene 2) - Juliet suggests that Romeo's name does not define him and he should choose a different one, "some other name," to stay himself in love with her.
5. To remain constant or faithful:
- Example: "Thy beauty hath not felt the tyrant's rage
Nor his fierce hand deflowered thy prime of age;" (Sonnet 32, ll. 9-10) - The speaker of the sonnet is praising the fairness and freshness of his friend's beauty which has withstood both age and "love's fire" to stay constant even with the passing of time.
The usage of the word "stay" in Romeo and Juliet adds depth and complexity to the language and contributes to the play's exploration of love, loss, and mortality.