Court Cantrell won't conform

Typed "I'm delighted" in a text to a friend -- and stopped short, looking at the word "delighted."

I used "delighted" to mean that I am pleased, joyful, content, happy.

But delighted. De-lighted.
Wouldn't that mean "darkened"? Illumination removed?

If "de-" indicates that "light" is removed, how does that jive with the emotions of pleased, happy, or content?

Looked up the #etymology.

And voilà.

"light" <-- leoht (#MiddleEnglish) <-- lēoht (#OldEnglish) <-- *leuhtą (#ProtoGermanic)

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Oct 21, 2025 at 6:45pmMastodon for Android
Show threadCourt Cantrell won't conformOct 21, 2025

"delight"<-- de- + light <--This particular "light" comes from

"delite" (ME) <-- delit & delitier (#OldFrench) <-- dēlectāre (#Latin) <-- de- + laciō (Lat), in which "lacio" <-- *lakjō (#ProtoItalic), meaning "to allure."

At some point, the spelling of "light" ("light") influenced the spelling of "delite," making the #English word seem to share the same origins.

But where the root of "light" means "to shine," the root of "lite" in "delight" means "to entice."

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Show threadCourt Cantrell won't conformOct 21, 2025

Thus, if something delights me, then that something has distracted me from what previously enticed me.

"I am delighted with your plans" means "I am so utterly pleased with your plans that what I was doing before I heard your plans is no longer interesting to me."

#LANGUAGE IS SO FUCKING COOL, Y'ALL

#linguistics
#WordNerd

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Show threadFrankOct 21, 2025
@courtcan I now speculate that deee-lite were also wordnerds and knew.
Show threadChris EspinosaNov 2
@courtcan wow. After the first two posts I was expecting “well, you see, de- in this etymology doesn’t derive from Latin “to undo” it’s actually “to enhance” from some other weird-ass language” but no. Thanks for the ride!
Show threadMartin Vermeer (not Jesus)Nov 2
@courtcan Delectable.
Show thread🟥 Eveline Sulman 🇳🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦Nov 2
@courtcan sometimes language itself is delighting
Show threadSunflower Björnskalle 🌻Oct 21, 2025
@courtcan So there's a relationship to delicious then?
Show threadChris EspinosaNov 2

@apodoxus @courtcan Direct.Both from Latin delicia/delicere. Delectable of course as well https://www.etymonline.com/word/delicious

“luscious” just drops the de-, and “delish” drops the “-ous” but they all mean “enticing away from [gestures vaguely at everything]”

Delicious - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

Originating c. 1300 from Old French and Late Latin, delicious means highly pleasing or delightful, derived from Latin deliciae meaning delight or charm.

etymonline
Show threadPhogna BolognaOct 21, 2025
@courtcan all those "lite" diet brands never knew how good their marketing was.
Show threadSunflower Björnskalle 🌻Oct 21, 2025
@courtcan Where's the rest of this post? 😅
Show threadCourt Cantrell won't conformOct 21, 2025
@apodoxus It's up now! Just took me a bit to get the rest of the thread typed up. 😊
Show threadSunflower Björnskalle 🌻Oct 21, 2025
@courtcan Just glad you weren't too delighted and leaving us hanging!
Show thread14missionOct 21, 2025
@courtcan If somehow it made sense to people hundreds of years ago to spell it with "light", and it feels sensible to everyone, then I guess the words are cognitively connected if not historically, or something. Call it a poetic folk etymology maybe.
Show threadMy God. It's full of sitars.Nov 2
@courtcan
Did you go back and send the text?