Dictionary

Delilah en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /dɪˈlaɪlə/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew דְּלִילָה (d'līla, “[she who] weakened”).

Meanings

1. A beautiful, cunning and treacherous woman; a femme fatale.
   • Down with this Delilah! Avaunt, O Circe, giver of poisonous feeds. To your natural haunts, ye gentlemen of the press! if bachelors, frequent your taverns, and be content. 1840, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Fashionable Authoress”, in The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, volume 9, Boston: James R. Osgood & Company, published 1872, pages 341–342:
   • He shall burst the bands of this Delilah, as Sampson burst the two new cords with which the Philistines had bound him, and shall slaughter the infidels, even heaps upon heaps. But concerning this foul witch, who hath flung her enchantments over a brother of the Holy Temple, assuredly she shall die the death. 1820, Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
2. A libertine; a harlot; a woman of loose morals.
   • About twenty-three years ago the town talked about Richepin having deserted hearth and home, wife and child, to devote himself to a Delilah in the person of a famous actress. 1908 March 11, “Notes from Paris”, in Truth, page 168:

Forms

Synonyms

promiscuous woman (libertine) · vamp (femme fatale)

Delilah en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /dɪˈlaɪlə/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew דְּלִילָה (d'līla, “[she who] weakened”).

Meanings

1. The mistress of Samson who betrayed him to the Philistines.
   • And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. Judges 16:6
2. A female given name from Hebrew of Biblical origin.
   • "Leila!" she said enigmatically. "Have you seen her?" / "I went to her flat last week with Dad—he likes her." / "Delilah is her real name, you know. All men like her. And Captain Fort is her lover." 1919 October, John Galsworthy, chapter I, in Saint’s Progress, London: William Heinemann, published December 1919, →OCLC, part III, 1 §, page 220:

Translations (21)

ru Дали́ла (biblical mistress of Samson) · he דְּלִילָה (biblical mistress of Samson) · sv Delila (biblical mistress of Samson) · kmr Delîla (biblical mistress of Samson) · ro Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · nl Delila (biblical mistress of Samson) · ca Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · es Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · grc Δαλιλᾶ (biblical mistress of Samson) · cmn 大利拉 (biblical mistress of Samson) · af Delilla (biblical mistress of Samson) · no Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · fr Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · da Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · de Delila (biblical mistress of Samson) · el Δαλιδά (biblical mistress of Samson) · la Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · it Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · fi Delila (biblical mistress of Samson) · pt Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson) · rm Dalila (biblical mistress of Samson)

wikidata: Q937827