deliverance

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deliveraunce,^[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman deliveraunce and delivrance (now délivrance),^[5][3][6] and partly formed from English deliver + -ance.^[5] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the first third of the 12th century.^[7] The French noun is from Old French delivrer (“to set free”) with -ance,^[5][8][6][4] from Late Latin dēlīberō (“to set free”), from Latin dē- (“away”) and līberō (“to free”), from līber (“free”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Liberation or rescue, of the body or the soul: about 1300, in the life of Saint Agatha in the South English Legendary.^[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Besides setting free, the Middle English word could mean childbirth, the handing over of something, and utterance, senses that are now usually expressed by delivery.^[3][5] The legal senses go with release: the emptying of a jail to bring its prisoners to trial (about 1410 to 1906), and the release of a prisoner, as in to stand upon one's deliverance (1485 to 1909).^[5] In Scots law a deliverance was, from 1385, a judicial decision or ruling,^[5] and the jurors' oath to make a true deliverance is recorded from 1620;^[5] from this comes the sense of an opinion or verdict expressed publicly.^[9][10][5] Chaucer used the word for nimbleness, and Trevisa for the discharge of a liquid, both senses now obsolete.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "the act of delivering a thing to another" first and "rescue" second, quoting the Bible's to preach deliverance to the captives.^[11][4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – liberation, rescue.^[5][2][3]
• before 1375 – childbirth (now rare).^[5]
• 1385 – in Scots law, a judicial decision.^[5]
• before 1398 – the discharge of a liquid from a pipe (obsolete by 1626).^[5]
• c. 1410 – the emptying of a jail for the trial of its prisoners (obsolete by 1906).^[5]
• 1431 – a statement or report (now rare).^[5]
• 1485 – the release of a prisoner at trial, in to stand upon one's deliverance (obsolete by 1909).^[5]
• 1620 – a verdict, in the jurors' oath to make a true deliverance.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of setting someone free, or the state of being set free, from danger, captivity or suffering; rescue, liberation: The villagers gave thanks for their deliverance from the fire.^{[9][4][12][5]}
2. Rescue from sin or evil; salvation.^[12][4]
3. An opinion or judgement expressed formally and in public, such as the verdict of a jury.^{[9][10][12][5]}
4. (now rare) The giving of birth; childbirth.^[5][4]
5. (archaic) The act of speaking; utterance.^[4][5]

Word family

• nondeliverance

Related words

• deliver
• delivery
• liberate
• liberty
• liberal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins