Delaware noun (Botany) An American grape, with compact bunches of small, amber-colored berries, sweet and of a good flavor.

Delawares noun plural ; sing. Delaware . (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians formerly inhabiting the valley of the Delaware River, but now mostly located in the Indian Territory.

Delay noun ; plural Delays . [ French délai , from Old French deleer to delay, or from Latin dilatum , which, though really from a different root, is used in Latin only as a past participle neut. of differre to carry apart, defer, delay. See Tolerate , and confer Differ , Delay , v. ] A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance.

Without any delay , on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.

Acts xxv. 17.

The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.

Macaulay.

Delay transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Delayed ; present participle & verbal noun Delaying .] [ Old French deleer , delaier , from the noun délai , or directly from Latin dilatare to enlarge, dilate, in Late Latin , to put off. See Delay , noun , and confer Delate , 1st Defer , Dilate .]
1. To put off; to defer; to procrastinate; to prolong the time of or before.

My lord delayeth his coming.

Matt. xxiv. 48.

2. To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time; to retard the motion, or time of arrival, of; as, the mail is delayed by a heavy fall of snow.

Thyrsis! whose artful strains have oft delayed
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal.

Milton.

3. To allay; to temper. [ Obsolete]

The watery showers delay the raging wind.

Surrey.

Delay intransitive verb To move slowly; to stop for a time; to linger; to tarry.

There seem to be certain bounds to the quickness and slowness of the succession of those ideas, . . . beyond which they can neither delay nor hasten.

Locke.

Delayer noun One who delays; one who lingers.

Delayingly adverb By delays. [ R.] Tennyson.

Delayment noun Hindrance. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Dele imperative sing. of Latin delere to destroy. [ Confer Delete .] (Print.) Erase; remove; -- a direction to cancel something which has been put in type; usually expressed by a peculiar form of d , thus: &dele;.

Dele transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deled ; present participle & verbal noun Deleing .] [ From the preceding word.] (Print.) To erase; to cancel; to delete; to mark for omission.

Dele transitive verb [ See Deal .] To deal; to divide; to distribute. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Deleble adjective [ Latin delebilis . See 1st Dele .] Capable of being blotted out or erased. "An impression easily deleble ." Fuller.

Delectable adjective [ Old French delitable , Old French delitable , French délectable , from Latin delectabilis , from delectare to delight. See Delight .] Highly pleasing; delightful.

Delectable both to behold and taste.

Milton.

-- De*lec"ta*ble*ness , noun -- De*lec"ta*bly , adverb

Delectate transitive verb [ Latin delectatus , past participle of delectare . See Delight .] To delight; to charm. [ R.]

Delectation noun [ Latin delectatio : confer French délectation .] Great pleasure; delight.

Delectus noun [ Latin , selection, from deligere , delectum , to select.] A name given to an elementary book for learners of Latin or Greek. G. Eliot.

Delegacy noun [ From Delegate , adjective ]
1. The act of delegating, or state of being delegated; deputed power. [ Obsolete]

By way of delegacy or grand commission.

Sir W. Raleigh.

2. A body of delegates or commissioners; a delegation. [ Obsolete] Burton.

Delegate noun [ Latin delegatus , past participle of delegare to send, delegate; de- + legare to send with a commission, to depute. See Legate .]
1. Any one sent and empowered to act for another; one deputed to represent; a chosen deputy; a representative; a commissioner; a vicar.

2. (a) One elected by the people of a territory to represent them in Congress, where he has the right of debating, but not of voting. (b) One sent by any constituency to act as its representative in a convention; as, a delegate to a convention for nominating officers, or for forming or altering a constitution. [ U.S.]

Court of delegates , formerly, the great court of appeal from the archbishops' courts and also from the court of admiralty. It is now abolished, and the privy council is the immediate court of appeal in such cases. [ Eng.]

Delegate adjective [ Latin delegatus , past participle ] Sent to act for or represent another; deputed; as, a delegate judge. " Delegate power." Strype.

Delegate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Delegated ; present participle & verbal noun Delegating .]
1. To send as one's representative; to empower as an ambassador; to send with power to transact business; to commission; to depute; to authorize.

2. To intrust to the care or management of another; to transfer; to assign; to commit.

The delegated administration of the law.

Locke.

Delegated executive power.

Bancroft.

The power exercised by the legislature is the people's power, delegated by the people to the legislative.

J. B. Finch.

Delegation noun [ Latin delegatio : confer French délégation .]
1. The act of delegating, or investing with authority to act for another; the appointment of a delegate or delegates.

2. One or more persons appointed or chosen, and commissioned to represent others, as in a convention, in Congress, etc.; the collective body of delegates; as, the delegation from Massachusetts; a deputation.

3. (Rom. Law) A kind of novation by which a debtor, to be liberated from his creditor, gives him a third person, who becomes obliged in his stead to the creditor, or to the person appointed by him. Pothier.

Delegatory adjective [ Latin delegatorius pert. to an assignment.] Holding a delegated position. Nash.

Delenda noun plural [ Latin , from delere to destroy.] Things to be erased or blotted out.

Delenifical adjective [ Latin delenificus ; delenire to soothe + facere to make. See Lenient .] Assuaging pain. [ Obsolete] Bailey.

Delete transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deleted ; present participle & verbal noun Deleting .] [ Latin deletus , past participle of delere to destroy. Confer 1st Dele .] To blot out; to erase; to expunge; to dele; to omit.

I have, therefore, . . . inserted eleven stanzas which do not appear in Sir Walter Scott's version, and have deleted eight.

Aytoun.

Deleterious adjective [ Late Latin deleterius noxious, Greek dhlhth`rios , from dhlei^sqai to hurt, damage; probably akin to Latin delere to destroy.] Hurtful; noxious; destructive; pernicious; as, a deleterious plant or quality; a deleterious example. -- Del`e*te"ri*ous*ly , adverb -- Del`e*te"ri*ous*ness , noun

Deletery adjective [ Late Latin deleterius : confer French délétère .] Destructive; poisonous. [ Obsolete] " Deletery medicines." Hudibras.

Deletery noun That which destroys. [ Obsolete]

They [ the Scriptures] are the only deletery of heresies.

Jer. Taylor.

Deletion noun [ Latin deletio , from delere . See Delete .] Act of deleting, blotting out, or erasing; destruction. [ Obsolete] Jer. Taylor.

A total deletion of every person of the opposing party.

Sir M. Hale.

Deletitious adjective [ Latin deleticius .] Of such a nature that anything may be erased from it; -- said of paper.

Deletive adjective Adapted to destroy or obliterate. [ R.] Evelyn.

Deletory noun [ See Delete .] That which blots out. [ Obsolete] "A deletory of sin." Jer. Taylor.

Delf noun [ Anglo-Saxon delf a delving, digging. See Delve .] A mine; a quarry; a pit dug; a ditch. [ Written also delft , and delve .] [ Obsolete]

The delfts would be so flown with waters, that no gins or machines could . . . keep them dry.

Ray.

Delf noun Same as Delftware .

Delft noun Same as Delftware .

Delftware noun (a) Pottery made at the city of Delft in Holland; hence: (b) Earthenware made in imitation of the above; any glazed earthenware made for table use, and the like.

Delibate transitive verb [ Latin delibatus , past participle of delibare to taste; de- + libare to taste.] To taste; to take a sip of; to dabble in. [ Obsolete]

Delibation noun [ Latin delibatio : confer French délibation .] Act of tasting; a slight trial. [ Obsolete] Berkeley.

Deliber transitive verb & i. To deliberate. [ Obsolete]

Deliberate adjective [ Latin deliberatus , past participle of deliberare to deliberate; de- + librare to weigh. See Librate .]
1. Weighing facts and arguments with a view to a choice or decision; carefully considering the probable consequences of a step; circumspect; slow in determining; -- applied to persons; as, a deliberate judge or counselor. "These deliberate fools." Shak.

2. Formed with deliberation; well-advised; carefully considered; not sudden or rash; as, a deliberate opinion; a deliberate measure or result.

Settled visage and deliberate word.

Shak.

3. Not hasty or sudden; slow. Hooker.

His enunciation was so deliberate .

W. Wirt.

Deliberate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Deliberated ; present participle & verbal noun Deliberating .] To weigh in the mind; to consider the reasons for and against; to consider maturely; to reflect upon; to ponder; as, to deliberate a question.

Deliberate intransitive verb To take counsel with one's self; to weigh the arguments for and against a proposed course of action; to reflect; to consider; to hesitate in deciding; -- sometimes with on , upon , about , concerning .

The woman that deliberates is lost.

Addison.

Deliberately adverb With careful consideration, or deliberation; circumspectly; warily; not hastily or rashly; slowly; as, a purpose deliberately formed.

Deliberateness noun The quality of being deliberate; calm consideration; circumspection.

Deliberation noun [ Latin deliberatio : confer French délibération .]
1. The act of deliberating, or of weighing and examining the reasons for and against a choice or measure; careful consideration; mature reflection.

Choosing the fairest way with a calm deliberation .

W. Montagu.

2. Careful discussion and examination of the reasons for and against a measure; as, the deliberations of a legislative body or council.

Deliberative adjective [ Latin deliberativus : confer French délibératif .] Pertaining to deliberation; proceeding or acting by deliberation, or by discussion and examination; deliberating; as, a deliberative body.

A consummate work of deliberative wisdom.

Bancroft.

The court of jurisdiction is to be distinguished from the deliberative body, the advisers of the crown.

Hallam.

Deliberative noun
1. A discourse in which a question is discussed, or weighed and examined. Bacon.

2. A kind of rhetoric employed in proving a thing and convincing others of its truth, in order to persuade them to adopt it.

Deliberatively adverb In a deliberative manner; circumspectly; considerately.

Deliberator noun One who deliberates.

Delibrate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Delibrated ; present participle & verbal noun Delibrating .] [ Latin delibratus , past participle of delibrare to delibrate; de from + liber bark.] To strip off the bark; to peel. [ Obsolete] Ash.