▪ I. deˈlineate, ppl. a. arch. or poetic.
[ad. L. dēlīneāt-us, pa. pple. of dēlīneāre: see next.]
Delineated; traced out, portrayed, described, etc. (Also used as a participle.)
| 1596 Edw. III, ii. ii. 27 Still do I see in him delineate His mother's visage. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 247 Such an even and delineate proportion. 1619 Bainbridge Descr. late Comet 11 That forme which..is delineate in the planispheare. 1773 J. Ross Fratricide v. 508 (MS.) But where's the Muse can give delineate life To heavenly Thyrsa. 1848 Bailey Festus Proem (ed. 3) 7/1 And for the soul of man delineate here. |
▪ II. delineate, v.
(dɪˈlɪniːeɪt)
Also 6 delineat, 6–7 deliniat(e.
[f. ppl. stem of L. dēlīneāre to outline, sketch out, f. de- I. 3 + līneāre to draw lines, līnea line: cf. depict, describe.]
1. trans. To trace out by lines, trace the outline of, as on a chart or map.
| 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 6 Geographie does deliniat, and set out the universal earth. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. A b, The Map, lively delineating to thee every mountaine, forrest, river and valley. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. §127 When therefore I delineate a triangle on paper. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea viii. §409 Other currents..delineated on [the] Plates. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 61 The exact position is delineated on the plan. |
2. To trace in outline, sketch out (something to be constructed); to outline; ‘to make the first draught of’ (J.).
| 1613 R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Delineate, to draw the proportion of any thing. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. (1851) 103 God..never intended to leave the government thereof delineated here in such curious architecture to be patch't afterwards. 1670 Marvell Corr. cliv. Wks. 1872–5 II. 338 Not willing nor prepared to deliniate his whole proposall. 1764 Reid Inquiry vi. §15. 172, I have endeavoured to delineate such a process. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 394 Our laws and the whole constitution of our state having been thus delineated. |
3. To represent by a drawing; to draw, portray.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. vii. (1660) 130 Plants..delineated with lims, sprigs, or branches. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. xi. 251 With the same reason they may delineate old Nestor like Adonis. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II, They were accused of being Anthropomorphites; delineating the Almighty as they did with hands, with eyes, and with feet. 1865 Grote Plato I. i. 17 If horses or lions could paint, they would delineate their gods in form like themselves. |
4. fig. To portray in words; to describe.
| a 1618 Raleigh (J.), It followeth, to delineate the region in which God first planted his delightful garden. 1680 J. Chamberlayne (title), Sacred Poem, Wherein the Birth, Miracles, &c. of the Most Holy Jesus are Delineated. 1791 Boswell Johnson Introd., When I delineate him without reserve. 1868 Nettleship Browning Introd. 3 Great as is his power in delineating all human passion. |
Hence deˈlineating vbl. n.; also attrib.
| 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars vi. lx, The Land-skip, Mixture, and Delineatings. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 142 The Delineating Ink..for delineating upon stone. |