delight
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- //dəˈlaɪt//
- //dɪˈlaɪt//
Joy; pleasure.
noun
- 1
Joy; pleasure.
A fool hath no delight in understanding.
[…] the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Gay as a flutter of butterflies and light as a zephyr, these dainty fabrics instantly suggest a wardrobe of sheer delight.
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.
- 2
Something that gives great joy or pleasure.
Greensleeves was all my joy / Greensleeves was my delight, […]
[…] Awake My fairest, my espous’d, my latest found, Heav’ns last best gift, my ever new delight,
Etymology
Attested from the 13th century, from Middle English delite, from Old French deleiter, deliter, from Latin dēlectāre (“to delight, please”), frequentative of dēlicere (“to allure, entice”), from dē- (“away”) + laciō (“to lure, to deceive”), from Proto-Italic *lakjō (“to draw, pull”), of unknown ultimate origin. Doublet of delect. Related with delectation, delicate, delicious and dilettante. The modern unetymological spelling (instead of expected delite) is influenced by light and other words ending in -ight, such as might, bright, etc. The -gh- may also be an attempt to represent the Latin -c-; compare obsolete indight for indict.
verb
- 1
To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly.
Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds.
A beautiful landscape delights the eye.
- 2
To have or take great pleasure.
A ſclaunderous tunge, a tunge of a ſkolde, Worketh more miſchiefe than can be tolde; That, if I wiſt not to be controlde, Yet ſomwhat to ſay I dare well be bolde,
For I have loved you well and long, / Delighting in your company.
He was an eisteddfodwr and delighted to hear good singing, whether it was in the sanctuary or at the eisteddfodic gatherings.
Forms
- plural
- delights
- past tense
- delighted
- past participle
- delighted
- present participle
- delighting
- third person singular
- delights