delight

An unetymological spelling, in imitation of words like light, might, etc.; the analogical modern spelling would be delite; from Middle English delite, from Old French deleiter, deliter, from Latin delectare (“to delight, please”), frequentative of delicere (“to allure”); see delectation and delicate.

• IPA^(key): /dəˈlaɪt/, /dɪˈlaɪt/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -aɪt

delight (countable and uncountable, plural delights)

1. Joy; pleasure.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Proverbs 18.2,

     A fool hath no delight in understanding.

   • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene 2,

     […] the isle is full of noises,

     Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.

   • 1967, Sleigh, Barbara, 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 examples of usage of this term, see Citations:delight.
2. 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,

     […] Awake

     My fairest, my espous’d, my latest found,

     Heav’ns last best gift, my ever new delight,

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:delight.

• undelight
• delightful

delight (third-person singular simple present delights, present participle delighting, simple past and past participle delighted)

1. 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 examples of usage of this term, see Citations:delight.

   A beautiful landscape delights the eye.

2. (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.

• delight in
• duping delight

• delicacy
• delicate
• delicatessen
• delicious

• delight in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• delight in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• gildeth, glideth, lighted