delight
English
Etymology
An unetymological spelling, in imitation of words like light, might, etc.; the analogical modern spelling would be delite; from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English delite, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French deleiter, deliter, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin delectare (“to delight, please”), frequentative of delicere (“to allure”); see delectation and delicate.
Pronunciation
Noun
delight (countable and uncountable, plural delights)
- Joy; pleasure.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Proverbs 18.2,[1]
- A fool hath no delight in understanding.
- c. 1611 William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene 2,[2]
- […] the isle is full of noises,
- Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
- 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, 1993 edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 122:
- At any other time Jessamy would have laughed at the expressions that chased each other over his freckled face: crossness left over from his struggle with the baby; incredulity; distress; and finally delight.
- 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
- From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:delight.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Proverbs 18.2,[1]
- Something that gives great joy or pleasure.
- 1580, Greensleeves,
- Greensleeves was all my joy / Greensleeves was my delight, […]
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 5, lines 17-19,[3]
- […] Awake
- My fairest, my espous’d, my latest found,
- Heav’ns last best gift, my ever new delight,
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:delight.
- 1580, Greensleeves,
Derived terms
Derived terms
Translations
joy, pleasure
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thing that gives pleasure
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Verb
delight (third-person singular simple present delights, present participle delighting, simple past and past participle delighted)
- To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly.
- 1580, Greensleeves:
- For I have loved you well and long, / Delighting in your company.
- 1842, Tennyson, Le Morte d’Arthur:
- Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:delight.
- A beautiful landscape delights the eye.
- 1580, Greensleeves:
- (intransitive) To have or take great pleasure.
- 1908, T.J. Griffths, The Cambrian (volume 28, page 504)
- He was an eisteddfodwr and delighted to hear good singing, whether it was in the sanctuary or at the eisteddfodic gatherings.
- 1908, T.J. Griffths, The Cambrian (volume 28, page 504)
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to give pleasure to
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Further reading
- “delight”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “delight”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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