▪ I. dainty, n.
(ˈdeɪntɪ)
Forms: 3–6 dein-, deyn-, dain-, daynte, -ee, (4–5 dayn-, deyntte), 4–6 dein-, deyntie, -y(e, 4–6 Sc. dante(e, 6 -ie, 5 dente, 6 denty, -ie, 4–7 daynty(e, -ie, 6–7 daintie, -ye, 4– dainty.
[a. OF. deintié, daintié, dainté pleasure, tit-bit:—L. dignitātem worthiness, worth, beauty, f. dignus worthy. The earlier OF. form was in -et, whence dainteth.]
† 1. Estimation, honour, favour (in which anything is held); esteem, regard; affection, love.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 412 Me let lesse deinte to þinge þet me haueð ofte. c 1305 St. Dunstan 35 in E.E.P. (1862) 35 For deynte þat he hadde of him: he let him sone bringe Bifore þe prince of Engelond. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 475 Schir eduard..Lufit [him], and held in sic dante. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 47 Of dowel ne dobet no deyntee me ne þouȝte. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas Prol. 52 These Poetes..Were by olde time had in great deintye With Kinges. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. viii. 28 Sen ȝonne..man, deir sister, the Was wount to cherise, and hald in gret dantie. |
† 2. Liking or fondness to do or see anything; delight, pleasure, joy. Obs.
| c 1325 Song of Yesterday 5 in E.E.P. (1862) 133 Þei haue no deynte forto dele With þinges þat bene deuotly made. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 159 Than all ran in-to gret dantee The Erll of Murreff for till se. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 41 Euery wight hath deyntee to chaffare With hem. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xiii. 66 The reeding in the Bible.. drawith the reders..fro loue and deinte of the world. 1508 Dunbar Twa maryit wemen 413 Adew dolour, adew! my daynte now begynis. a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Courte 337 Trowest thou..That I haue deynte to see thee cherysshed thus? |
† 3. Delightful or choice quality; sumptuousness.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3655 (Cott.) Venison þou has him nommen, Wit dainte dight til his be-houe. c 1300 K. Alis. 7070 They haven seolk, gret plenté, And maken clothis of gret deynté. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 117/1 Dente (K.H.P. deynte), lauticia. |
† 4. Daintiness; fastidiousness. Obs.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 27 He feining seemely merth, And shee coy lookes: so dainty, they say, maketh derth. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 198 Note this: the King is wearie Of daintie, and such picking grieuances. |
† 5. concr. Anything estimable, choice, fine, pleasing or delightful; hence occas., a luxury, rarity (cf. dainty a. 2). Obs. exc. as in 6.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7850 Þare es plenté of dayntes and delice. a 1400–50 Alexander 5298 Ware slike a wondire in oure marche of Messedone..It ware a daynte to deme. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 51 Plenty is no dainty. 1617 Rich Irish Hubbub 47 It was a great dainties..euen amongst their greatest nobility, to see a cloake lined thorow with Veluet. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 439 [He] made such a vent for Welch cottons, that what he found drugs at home, he left dainties beyond the sea. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne, Eng. Hist. 227 Those who can only be allured by the dainties of knowledge. |
† b. As a term of endearment. (Cf. sweet.)
| 1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. i, There is a fortune comming Towards you, Daintie. |
6. esp. Anything pleasing or delicious to the palate; a choice viand, a delicacy.
| c 1300 Beket 1202 Heo servede this holi man and of deyntes him broȝte. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 255 Tho was there many a deinte fet And set to-fore hem on the bord. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 117 Delyce, or deyntes, delicie. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 291 Some whet their teethe upon sugred deinties. 1611 Bible Ps. cxli. 4 Let mee not eate of their dainties. 1794 Southey Wat Tyler iii. ii, Your larders hung with dainties. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) i. 305 The cunning caterer still must share The dainties which his toils prepare. |
| fig. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 26 Suche deinties..Wherof thou takest thin herte food. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 59 There be some..to whom sin..is both food and dainties. |
† 7. Phrase. to make dainty of (anything): to set great store by; hence, to be sparing or chary of; to make dainty to do (or of doing; also absol.), to be chary or loth, to scruple. Obs.
| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. iii. 37 The moste noble Citrus, wherof the Romaines made greate deintie. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. ix. 107/1 They will not make daintie of the name of our Lord Jesus Christe, to worke their subtill and mischeevous practises. 1581 Savile Tacitus' Hist. i. xlvi. (1591) 26 Some..made noe dainty to beare any burden. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 21 Which of you all Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty, She Ile sweare hath cornes. a 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 492 Shee ranne home and made no dainties of it; all her neighbours were the better for her store. a 1628 Preston New Cov. (1634) 410 Defer not, make not dainty of applying the promises. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts Matt. x. 39 Hee that makes so dainty of his life as that..he will not expose it to danger. 1638 Featley Strict. Lyndom. ii. 122 We have all reason to make great dainties of the noble confession of ..our Romish adversaries. 1649 Milton Eikon. 43 If..he made so dainty and were so loath to bestow [etc.]. |
† 8. As an asseveration: ? = By God's dignity, or honour. Obs.
| 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. v, S'daintie, I mistooke the place, I miss'd thine eare and hit thy lip. |
▪ II. dainty, a.
(ˈdeɪntɪ)
[from prec. n.]
† 1. Valuable, fine, handsome; choice, excellent; pleasant, delightful. Obs. or dial. in general sense.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1253 To daly with derely your daynte wordez. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 168 Full many a deynte hors hadde he in stable. 1526 Tindale Rev. xviii. 14 All thynges which were deyntie and had in pryce. 1573 Tusser Husb. xxxv. (1878) 81 More daintie the lambe, the more woorth to be sold. 1626 Bacon Sylva §389 The daintiest Smells of Flowers, are out of those plants, whose Leaves smell not. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 354 ¶1 To hear Country Squires..cry, Madam, this is dainty Weather. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vi, ‘Ay? indeed? a scheme o' yours? that must be a denty ane!’ 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Denty or Dentyish, a weather term, genial, cheering. |
† 2. Precious; hence, rare, scarce. Obs.
| ? a 1500 How Plowman lerned Pater-Noster 28 in Hazl. E.P.P. (1864) I. 211 Malte had he plentye; And Martylmas befe to hym was not deyntye. 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. xi. 671 The blacke [whorts] are very common..but the red are dayntie, and founde but in fewe places. 1616 Hieron Wks. I. 584 If sermons were dainty..they would be more esteemed. 1677 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 37 A rare muffe, but judged to be some dainty squirell skin. |
3. Pleasing to the palate, choice, delicate.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxi. 17 Who looueth deynte metis. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 58 To gete a glotoun deyntee mete and drinke. 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 299/1 To eate..costly fishes, and that of the dentiest fashion dressed. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 26 Dainty bits Make rich the ribs. 1627 Milton Vac. Exerc. 14 The daintiest dishes shall be serv'd up last. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 100 ¶12 Her house is elegant and her table dainty. 1892 Stevenson Wrecker ii, Fine wines and dainty dishes. |
4. Of delicate or tender beauty or grace; delicately pretty; made with delicate taste.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3060 Her chyn..With a dympull full derne, daynté to se. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. v. 77 She is estemed, as a deinty derling, beloued of many. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 6 The grassye ground with daintye Daysies dight. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. i, Let your gifts be slight and dainty, rather than precious. c 1645 Howell Lett. i. xxviii. 54 Such a diaphonous pellucid dainty body as you see a Crystall-glasse is. 1877 M. M. Grant Sun-Maid vii, There stood waiting for her the daintiest of little broughams. |
5. Of persons, etc.: Possessing or displaying delicate taste, perception, or sensibility; nice, fastidious, particular; sometimes, over-nice.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 357 Fine fellowes, that bee verie deintie and circumspect in speaking. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. iv. v. (1588) 497 Sundry other daintie and nice differences doth M. Marrow make. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 38 No shape but his can please your dainty eye. 1602 ― Ham. v. i. 78 The hand of little Imployment hath the daintier sense. 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. xv, I am somewhat dainty in making a resolution—because when I make it I keep it. 1841 Lytton Nt. & Morn. iii. ii, You must take me as you take the world, without being over-scrupulous and dainty. 1855 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. iii. 101 From being too dainty in our choice of words. |
† b. with of: Particular or scrupulous about (anything); careful, chary, or sparing of. Obs.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 251 Friendes..garnished w{supt} learning, & not deintie of their travell. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 150 Let vs not be daintie of leaue-taking, But shift away. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. iii. 367 The devil not being dainty of his company where he finds welcome. |
† c. with infin.: Disinclined or reluctant (to do).
| 1553 B. Gilpin in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. xxiii. 440 Such as be dainty to hear the poor. 1612 Sir R. Dudley in Fortesc. Papers 7 note, I will not bee dainty to make you a partie to my designes. |
6. Nice or particular as to the quality of food, comforts, etc.; † luxurious.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) K j b, The heart of a woman is deyntee. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 85 As..some daintie guest knowing there is so pleasant fare to com. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 181 You dainty Dames that are so nice, that you will not endure this pleasant Element to blow upon you. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. III. vi. v. 521 When men were starving they could not afford to be dainty. 1892 Stevenson Wrecker ii, I was born with a dainty tooth and a palate for wine. |
† 7. Delicate (in health or constitution). Obs.
| 1562 W. Bullein Campoundes 46 a, Thei maie be giuen to drinke to them that are weake or feable, or as thei call it deintie. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxii. (1887) 94 Whose mother was delicate, daintie, tender, neuer stirring. |
8. quasi-adv. Daintily. (rare.)
| 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 726 You quote Scriptures, tho (to your prayse) more dainty indeede then your fellowes. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 72 If rich men shall fare somewhat dainty. 1873 R. Broughton Nancy III. 144 So exceedingly fair and dainty wrought. |
9. Comb., as dainty-chapped, dainty-eared, dainty-fingered, dainty-mouthed, dainty-tongued, dainty-toothed adjs.
| 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1877) 42 (D.) You *dainty-chapped fellow, you ought to be fed with hay. |
| 1549 Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 90 marg., How tender and *deynety eared men of these days be. |
| 1713 Rowe Jane Shore i. i, This tough impracticable Heart Is govern'd by a *dainty-finger'd Girl. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 309/2 *Deynty mouthed, friant. |
| a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 233 They are so *daintie-Tongued that their Company is too costly. |
| 1577 tr. Bullinger Decades (1592) 154 Let euery young man bee..not licorish lipped, nor *dainty toothed. |
▪ III. † dainty, v. Obs. rare.
(ˈdeɪntɪ)
[f. prec. n. or adj.]
trans. With up: To pamper or indulge with dainties.
| 1622 H. Sydenham Serm. Sol. Occ. (1637) 108 So that they would..nourish, not daintie up the body. 1778 Mrs. Thrale in Mad. D'Arblay's Diary Sept. I. 68 She dainties us up with all the meekness in the world. |