Meanings
plural delectations
- countableuncountableGreat pleasure; delight.
Do not let us men despise these instincts because we cannot feel them. These women were made for our comfort and delectation, gentlemen,—with all the rest of the minor animals.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 22, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLCSynonyms: delection
Synonyms & antonyms
nounGreat pleasure; delight.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Italic*lakjō“to draw, pull”
- Latindēlectō“to delight, charm, please”
- Latindēlectātiōnem
- Old Frenchdelectation“enjoyment”
- Englishdelectation
Attested from the mid 14th century, from Old French delectation (“enjoyment”), from Latin dēlectātiōnem, accusative singular of dēlectātiō, from the verb Latin dēlectō (“to delight, charm, please”), frequentative of dēliciō, from de- (“away”) + laciō (“to lure, to deceive”), from Proto-Italic *lakjō (“to draw, pull”), of unknown ultimate origin. By surface analysis, delect + -ation or delectate + -ion. Related to delight and delicious.
More words from Old French, Latin, Proto-Italic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian наслада, удоволствие
- наслада (naslada)great pleasure; delight
- удоволствие (udovolstvie)great pleasure; delight
Danish fornøjelse, glæde
- fornøjelsegreat pleasure; delight
- glædegreat pleasure; delight
Finnish nautinto, mielihyvä
- nautintogreat pleasure; delight
- mielihyvägreat pleasure; delight
- ilogreat pleasure; delight
- iloitseminengreat pleasure; delight
- delektaatiogreat pleasure; delight
Norwegian Bokmål glede
- gledegreat pleasure; delight
Polish rozkoszowanie się
- rozkoszowanie sięgreat pleasure; delight
Romanian delectare, desfătare
- delectaregreat pleasure; delight
- desfătaregreat pleasure; delight
Russian наслажде́ние, удово́льствие
- наслажде́ние (naslaždénije)great pleasure; delight
- удово́льствие (udovólʹstvije)great pleasure; delight
Spanish deleite, delectación
- deleitegreat pleasure; delight
- delectacióngreat pleasure; delight
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with delectation
Cite this entry
delectation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delectation
“delectation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delectation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “delectation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delectation.
Source: delectation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.