English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English dilectabilites pl, from Middle French delectableté.

Noun edit

delectability (countable and uncountable, plural delectabilities)

  1. (uncountable) The quality of being delectable.
    • 2007 August 22, Melissa Clark, “So Many Tomatoes to Stuff in a Week”, in New York Times[1]:
      If I really wanted to take full advantage of their delectability, and to eat them every day, a plan was in order.
  2. (countable) A delight.
    • 1834, [William Beckford], “Letter XII. A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco’s.—[]”, in Italy; with Sketches of Spain and Portugal, volume II, London: Richard Bentley, [], section “Spain”, pages 336–337:
      I had heard of this court and its delectabilities, and at the same time been informed that its throne was a faro-table, to which the initiated were imperatively expected to become tributaries.
    • 1856, “Cardinal Wiseman, the Lamp of the Papacy”, in The Lamps of the Temple: Crayon Sketches of the Men of the Modern Pulpit, 3rd edition, London: John Snow, [], page 119:
      But we will look a little more closely at the delectabilities of these three volumes.
    • 1969, Robert Farrar Capon, “Water in Excelsis”, in The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →LCCN, page 91:
      With wine at hand, the good man concerns himself, not with getting drunk, but with drinking in all the natural delectabilities of wine: taste, color, bouquet; []

Synonyms edit