deliciae

• dēlicia (exceptional)

From the once-attested dēliciō, from dē- +‎ laciō (“I snare, entice”), the base verb of dēlectō.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [deːˈlɪ.ki.ae̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [d̪eˈliː.t͡ʃi.e]

dēliciae f pl (genitive dēliciārum); first declension

1. delight, pleasure (an activity which affords enjoyment)

   dēliciās facere

   to enjoy oneself, to have fun (also in erotic sense)

2. luxuries, toys (things serving to please)
   1. decorations, delicacies, erotic verse
   2. charms (pleasing physical attributes)
3. darling, sweetheart, favourite, pet

   in dēliciīs habēre

   to treat as a pet, favourite; to cherish

   in dēliciīs esse

   to be a pet, favourite; to be cherished

   1. (specifically of animals) pet, housepet
4. comforts, luxuries (conditions affording physical or mental ease)
   • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 47.19:

     Nōn quidquid nōs offendit et laedit; sed ad rabiem cōgunt pervenīre dēliciae, ut quidquid nōn ex voluntāte respondit īram ēvocet.

     Not everything that offends us also harms us; but our comforts compel us toward madness, so that whatever does not respond to our will provokes anger.
     (In context, Seneca is referring to the attitude of entitlement resulting from the pampered lifestyle of a master surrounded by obedient slaves.)

5. elegant, affected manners; airs
   1. mannerisms, whims, niceties
6. gourmet, voluptuary

Used almost exclusively in the plural.

First-declension noun, plural only.

• delicātus

• “dēlicia” on page 559 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

• “deliciae”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “deliciae”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “deliciae”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • somebody's darling: mel ac deliciae alicuius (Fam. 8. 8. 1)
    
  • somebody's darling: amores et deliciae alicuius