Etymologically
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delight

Etymology and origin of the English word delight

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1225
Borrowed from
Old French delit
Ultimate origin
Latin (delectare)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈlaɪt/, /dəˈlaɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French delit (“pleasure, delight”),[2][3][4] from delitier, to please greatly,[2][3] from Latin dēlectāre, to allure, charm,[2][3][4] a frequentative of dēlicere, to entice, from dē-, away, and lacere, to entice (see delicious and delicate).[2][5] The spelling with gh, after native words such as light and flight, came into use in the 16th century;[2][4][6] delight has no real connection with light.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Great pleasure or satisfaction: probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle,[2] before 1225 in the OED.[7]

Semantic evolution

Something that gives great pleasure is also from before 1225,[7] and to take delight in from about 1230.[7] The verb, to take great pleasure, is from about 1200, and to give great pleasure from about 1300.[3][2] Delightful is from before 1400.[2] Lumps of delight was an old name for Turkish delight (1870).[7]

Timeline

  • before 1225 – great pleasure.[7]
  • c. 1230 – to take delight in.[7]
  • c. 1300 – to delight someone.[3]
  • before 1400 – delightful.[2]
  • 16th century – the spelling delight.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Great pleasure or joy.
  2. Something or someone that gives great pleasure.

Verb

  1. To please greatly.
  2. To take great pleasure, with in: she delights in music.

Word family

  • delighter
  • delightingly
  • delightless
  • delightsome
  • delightful
  • undelighting
  • idiot's delight
  • Turkish delight

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Delight.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/delight. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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