delate

[ dih-leyt ]

verb (used with object),de·lat·ed, de·lat·ing.

Chiefly Scot. to inform against; denounce or accuse.
Archaic. to relate; report: to delate an offense.

Origin of delate

1505–15; <Latin dēlātus (suppletive past participle of dēferre to bring down, report, accuse), equivalent to dē-de- + lā- carry (past participle stem of ferre) + -tus past participle suffix

Other words from delate

de·la·tion, noun
de·la·tor, de·lat·er, noun
del·a·to·ri·an [del-uh-tawr-ee-uhn, -tohr-], /ˌdɛl əˈtɔr i ən, -ˈtoʊr-/, adjective

Words Nearby delate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use delate in a sentence

Elders were ordered by the minister to search the town and “to delate the absentees.”
Bygone Church Life in Scotland | Various
Perhaps this party division is necessary to induce each to watch and delate to the people the proceedings of the other.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson

British Dictionary definitions for delate

delate

/ (dɪˈleɪt) /

verb(tr)

(formerly) to bring a charge against; denounce; impeach
rare to report (an offence, etc)

obsolete to make known or public

Origin of delate

C16: from Latin dēlātus, from dēferre to bring down, report, indict, from de- + ferre to bear

Derived forms of delate

delation, noun
delator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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