A Dictionary of Cont..

deism; theism. Deism is the belief in the existence
of a God on the evidence of reason and nature
only. It rejects supernatural revelation. Theism
is the belief in one God as the creator and ruler
of the universe, but it does not reject supernatural
revelation.
delay. This word may be used with the -ing form
of a verb, as in he delayed starting. It is sometimes
used with an infinitive, as in he delayed to
start, but this is not standard practice.
delectable. See delightful.
deliberate falsehood. To refer to some untrue
statement as a deliberate falsehood is to be at
once trite and redundant. The phrase is hackneyed
and since a falsehood must be deliberate
in the sense of intentional, otherwise it would
be simply a mistake, it is redundant.
delicacy; dainty. See tidbit.
delightful; delicious; delectable. That is G!elightful
which affords delight. That is delicious which
pleases the senses of taste or smell-though
these, especially the sense of taste, are extended
figuratively. A delightful meal would be one at
which there was pleasant company, in pleasant
surroundings and at which, presumably, the food
would be delicious. But it is conceivable that
delicious food could be served at a meal which
was not delightful if the company was unpleasant
or the surroundings disagreeable.
Delectable is a poetic form of delightful. Bunyan
referred to the Delectable Mountains in
what is perhaps the most famous use of the
word. Fowler says that it is now used in &gland
only in an ironical sense but in America, where
it is a club-woman gush word, it is used largely
as a synonym for delicious.
delimit. See limit.
delirium. The plural is deliriums or deliria.
deliver. When this word is used in connection with
childbirth, it means “to set free” and lnot “to
hand over.” Although it would seem that birth
sets the baby free even more than it d’oes the
mother, this hasn’t been the opinion of people
old enough to talk about the matter. In literary
English, therefore, it is the mother, and not the
child, who is delivered. In the United States one
often hears of babies being delivered. This is
probably a survival from the stork period when
delivered had to be understood as handed over.
deliverance; delivery. Delivery refers to transfer
or conveyance, the utterance of speech, or the
act of giving birth (Its delivery was rapid. His
delivery was sonorous and clear. The delivery
was normal at term). Deliverance was once
synonymous in these meanings, but it ia, now a
legal and ecclesiastical term and means :primarily
a rescue or release from some undesirable
state (Prayer brings deliverunce from g,uilt).
delusion. See allusion.
delve, in the literal sense of digging with a spade,
is known today chiefly in John Ball’s fierce
rhyme :
When Adam dolve and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?
-usually misspoken, for clarity, as “When
Adam delved.” In the figurative sense of intel-
lectual digging (Not in the cells where frigid
learning delves/ In Aldine folios mouldering on
their shelves) it is slightly pedantic and affected.
demand; claim; require. TO demand is to ask in
a bold, authoritative way (He demanded immediate
admission). To claim is to assert a right to
something (He claimed the respect due his rank
and would accept no less). To reqztire is to ask
for something as being necessary (The army
requires obedience; it could not function without
it) or to compel (His lordship required them
to be up before daylight and on before him).
See also inquire.
demean. There is a verb demean which means to
conduct or behave oneself (No man who engaged
in the rebellion demeaned himself throughout
its course so honorably and so humanely).
There is also, despite the protests of the purists,
another verb demean which means to lower
in dignity or standing, to debase (Zt was, of
course, Mrs. Sedley’s opinion that her son would
demean himself by a marriage with an artist’s
daughter). This may have originated in a misconception
of the other verb demean in certain
contexts. It may be modeled from the adjective
mean as an analogy to debase, but the fact
remains that it is here. It has been used by some
of the best writers and is used by the common
speaker far more often than the other verb.
Indeed, the common speaker is often astonished
to learn (from the purist) that there is another
verb. It is now standard usage.
demise is a word of highly special meanings which,
in grandiloquence or as a euphemism, is sometimes
put to improper uses. Originally it was a
law term, signifying the conveyance or transfer
of an estate by will or lease. Then it came to
refer to the transference of sovereignty on the
death or deposition of a sovereign, and here we
have such phrases as death or demise and the
demise of the crown. When Edward the Fourth
was driven from his throne for a few months
this period was called his demise. In most cases,
however, the sovereignty has been demised by
the death of the sovereign, and so it is a natural
extension of the word to speak of a ruler’s death
as his demise. To speak of an ordinary man’s
death as his demise, however, is probably erroneous,
since no sovereignty is transferred by the
act. And it is certainly grandiloquent. One might
as well speak of his accession to a job or his
abdication on being tied.
demolish. See destroy.
demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. Most
grammarians mean by demonstrative pronouns
simply the words this, that, these, and those.
Some grammarians feel that any pronoun which
“points out” may be called a demonstrative,
such as the former, the latter, the first, the one,
the other, the same. In either case, these same
words can also be used to qualify nouns. When
they are, they are called demonstrative adjectives.
See this; that.
demur. See object.
den (a room in a house). See sanctum.
denigrate. See black.
denominate. See name.