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

Related formsde·la·tion, nounde·la·tor, de·lat·er, noundel·a·to·ri·an

[del-uh-tawr-ee-uh n, -tohr-] /ˌdɛl əˈtɔr i ən, -ˈtoʊr-/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for delate

Historical Examples of delate

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

verb (tr)

(formerly) to bring a charge against; denounce; impeach

rare to report (an offence, etc)

obsolete to make known or public

Derived Formsdelation, noundelator, noun

Word Origin for delate

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

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