delect
delect verb: to delight.
Verb
delect (third-person singular simple present delects, present participle delecting, simple past and past participle delected)
- To delight.
- For they were gretely delected and enioyed togiders1510 September 14, [Andrew Chertsey], Ihesus. The Floure of the Commaundementes of God with Many Examples and Auctorytees Extracte and Drawen as Well of Holy Scryptures as of Other Doctours and Good...
- For (many tymes) yᵗ thynge that doeth delect and please: is iudged or supposed profytable / althoughe in dede (moche contrary) it do noy and hurte.1525 November 28, Rycharde Whytford, The Rule of Saynt Augustyne, Bothe in Latyn and Englysshe, with Two Exposicyons. And Also the Same Rule Agayn Onely in Englysshe without Latyn or Exposicyon...
Examples of delect in a sentence
- Yf you fortune to come where they ben / & begyn somwhat to delecte in theyr maters: I aduyse you dissimule & take vpon you yt you herde thẽ not / ne set any thynge therby.1530 December 20, Rycharde Whytforde, A Werke for Housholders / or for Them Yᵗ Haue the Gydynge or Gouernaunce of Any Company. […], London...
- The thing in this lyf that delects indures bot a moment.1588, A. King, transl., Canisius’ Catech., section 211; quoted in “† Delect, v.”, in James A[ugustus] H[enry] Murray [et al.], editors, A...
- And if in the vast Petegrination of Books, it may please God, that but one delected heart may by any good word in It, be a little lifted vp; […]1630, I. C., A Handkercher for Parents Wet Eyes vpon the Death of Children. A Consolatory Letter to a Friend., London: […] E[liz.] A[llde]...
- Returned home, with superfluous lassitude, they delect themselves with their extreme usefulness, relate all they have said or done in the day, to-morrow to renew their impertinent futility.1809, Sir Brooke Boothby; [6th] Bar[one]t, Fables and Satires, with a Preface on the Esopean Fable, volume II, Edinburgh: […] George Ramsay...
Forms of delect
| third-person singular present | delects |
|---|---|
| present participle | delecting |
| past participle | delected |
| past | delected |
Origin of delect
From Latin dēlectāre. Compare Middle English delect (“to ease the pain of (an ulcer)”). Doublet of delight.
Questions about delect
- What does delect mean?
- Delect means to delight.
- How do you use delect in a sentence?
- Yf you fortune to come where they ben / & begyn somwhat to delecte in theyr maters: I aduyse you dissimule & take vpon you yt you herde thẽ not / ne set any thynge therby.
- What part of speech is delect?
- Delect is a verb.
- What is the past tense of delect?
- The past tense of delect is delected.
Words near delect in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: delect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “delect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/delect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.