Delectus
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An elementary reader (collection of passages) for learners of a language obsolete
"If she spoke with any keenness of interest to Mr. Casaubon, he heard her with an air of patience as if she had given a quotation from the Delectus familiar to him from his tender years, and sometimes mentioned curtly what ancient sects or personages had held similar ideas, as if there were too much of that sort in stock already; at other times he would inform her that she was mistaken, and reassert what her remark had questioned."
Example
More examples"If she spoke with any keenness of interest to Mr. Casaubon, he heard her with an air of patience as if she had given a quotation from the Delectus familiar to him from his tender years, and sometimes mentioned curtly what ancient sects or personages had held similar ideas, as if there were too much of that sort in stock already; at other times he would inform her that she was mistaken, and reassert what her remark had questioned."
Etymology
From Latin delectus (“selection”), from deligo (“to select”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.