English Explanatory Dictionary

delight

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Joy; pleasure.
  2. Something that gives great joy or pleasure.
verb
  1. To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly.
  2. To have or take great pleasure.
name
  1. A place in the United States:
  2. A town in Pike County, Arkansas.
  3. A township in Custer County, Nebraska.

Pronunciation

/dəˈlaɪt/ /dɪˈlaɪt/ en-us-delight.ogg

Word forms

delight delights delighting delighted

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.

Synonyms

delection delightedness joy glee blitheness blithesomeness cheerfulness cheeriness contentness contentedness delight elatedness elation exuberance exuberantness felicity gaiety gayness gayfulness gladness gladsomeness gleefulness gleesomeness happiness high spirits hilarity jolliness jollity joviality jovialness joyfulness joyousness liss merriment merriness mirth mirthfulness pleasedness cheer up perk up beatify enrapture begladden blissen bright cheer fetch cherish content elate elevate enbliss exhilarate fain gay gladden gladden someone's heart gratify happify happy

Related words

delicacy delicate delicatessen delicious

Derived words

afternoon delight Buddha's delight Cupid's delight delightful delightless delightly delightsome devil's delight duper's delight gardener's delight Heart's Delight idiot's delight lumps of delight queen's delight take delight in Turkish delight undelight whaler's delight duping delight delighter delight in delightingly undelighting

Translations

Esperanto: agrablaĵo Ancient Greek: χάρμα Latin: gaudium Tagalog: kasiyahan Sanskrit: रणति Tagalog: matuwa Tagalog: magalak
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