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delate

[dih-leyt]
verb (used with object), de·lat·ed, de·lat·ing.
  1. Chiefly Scot. to inform against; denounce or accuse.
  2. Archaic. to relate; report: to delate an offense.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for delate

Historical Examples

  • 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.

British Dictionary definitions for delate

delate

verb (tr)
  1. (formerly) to bring a charge against; denounce; impeach
  2. rare to report (an offence, etc)
  3. obsolete to make known or public
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Derived Formsdelation, noundelator, noun

Word Origin

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