delight

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /dəˈlaɪt/, /dɪˈlaɪt/

Noun

delight

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

     A fool hath no delight in understanding.

   • circa 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.

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,

Translations

• French: plaisir, délice, joie
• German: Freude, Entzückung, Wohlgefallen, Lust
• Italian: delizia, piacere
• Portuguese: deleite
• Russian: восто́рг
• Spanish: deleite, regocijo, delicia, placer, delectación, gozo

Verb

delight (delights, present participle delighting; 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, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King#The Passing of Arthur:

     Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds.

   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.

Related terms

• delicacy
• delicate
• delicatessen
• delicious

Translations

• French: enchanter, ravir, prendre plaisir à, se délecter de
• Italian: deliziare
• Portuguese: deliciar, encantar
• Spanish: regocijar, complacer, deleitar, hacer las delicias de

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