Delight, n.
Etymology: [OE. delit, OF. delit, deleit, fr. delitier, to delight. See Delight, v. t.]
1. A high degree of gratification of mind; a high-wrought state of pleasurable feeling; lively pleasure; extreme satisfaction; joy. Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Shak. A fool hath no delight in understanding. Prov. xviii. 2.
2. That which gives great pleasure or delight. Heaven's last, best gift, my ever new delight. Milton.
3. Licentious pleasure; lust. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Delight, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Delighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Delighting.]
To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly; as, a beautiful landscape delights the eye; harmony delights the ear. Inventions to delight the taste. Shak. Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds. Tennyson.
Delight, v. i.
To have or take great delight or pleasure; to be greatly pleased or rejoiced; -- followed by an infinitive, or by in. Love delights in praises. Shak. I delight to do thy will, O my God. Ps. xl. 8.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for delight; he lists it under entertain, entertainment, happiness.
Where he writes about it:
Happiness, in the full sense, is mental or spiritual or both, and is viewed as resulting from some worthy gratification or satisfaction; we may speak of a brute as experiencing comfort or pleasure, but scarcely as in possession of happiness; we speak of vicious pleasure, delight, or joy, but not of vicious happiness. — from happiness
Delight is vivid, overflowing happiness of a somewhat transient kind; ecstasy is a state of extreme or extravagant delight so that the one affected by it seems almost beside himself with joy; rapture is closely allied to ecstasy, but is more serene, exalted, and enduring. — from happiness