Origins
The word 'delight' entered Middle English around 1200 as 'delit,' borrowed from Old French 'delit' (βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββpleasure, enjoyment), from the verb 'delitier' (to please, to charm), from Latin 'dΔlectΔre' (to allure, to delight, to charm). 'DΔlectΔre' is the frequentative form of 'dΔlicere' (to entice away, to lure from), a compound of 'dΔ-' (away, from) and 'lacere' (to entice, to lure, to deceive). The deep etymology is thus tinged with seduction: to delight someone is, at root, to lure them away β to entice them from indifference into pleasure.
The most remarkable feature of 'delight' is its spelling. The Middle English form was 'delit,' faithfully reflecting the Old French source. At some point in the late medieval or early modern period β probably the fifteenth or sixteenth century β English scribes respelled the word as 'delight,' inserting a '-gh-' by false analogy with native English words like 'light,' 'night,' 'might,' 'sight,' and 'flight,' where the '-gh-' represents a historical velar or palatal fricative (a sound like German 'ch' in 'Nacht'). 'Delight' has no such sound in its history β the '-gh-' is pure etymological fiction, a spelling that gestures toward a pronunciation that never existed. The respelling was so successful, however, that it became standard, and no one has seriously proposed returning to 'delite.'
This type of false etymological spelling is called 'hypercorrection' or 'analogical respelling,' and it occurred with several other English words during the same period. 'Tight' was sometimes respelled 'tighte' though it is of Norse origin. 'Sprite' (from Old French 'esprit') was respelled 'spright' and eventually split into two words: 'sprite' (a fairy or elf) and 'sprightly' (lively), the latter preserving the false '-gh-.' 'Delight' is the most prominent example because it affects one of the most common words in the language.
French Influence
The Latin root 'lacere' (to entice, to lure) also produced 'elicit' (to draw out, from 'Δlicere'), 'delicate' (originally 'alluring, charming'), 'delicious' (giving great delight to the senses), and 'delectable' (delightful, especially to the taste). The semantic thread connecting these words is the idea of attraction β of being drawn toward something pleasurable. 'Lace,' the fabric, may also be related (via Old French 'laz,' a snare or noose, from Latin 'laqueus'), extending the metaphor of entanglement: lace is the fabric that snares the eye, just as delight is the emotion that snares the soul.
In usage, 'delight' occupies a middle ground between the mild pleasantness of 'pleasure' and the overwhelming intensity of 'ecstasy.' To take delight in something is to find genuine, lively, engaged enjoyment β more active than contentment, more sustainable than rapture. The word is warm without being extreme, joyful without being manic. This emotional temperature makes it one of the most versatile positive-emotion words in English, applicable to everything from culinary pleasure ('Turkish delight,' the confection named for its capacity to charm) to aesthetic appreciation ('the delights of the season') to intellectual engagement ('she delighted in the puzzle').
The verb form 'to delight' can be both transitive (the music delighted the audience) and intransitive with 'in' (she delights in gardening), and this dual construction captures the word's essential character: delight is both something done to us (we are charmed, lured, enticed) and something we actively do (we choose to take delight, we direct our attention toward what pleases). The etymological shadow of 'lacere' (to lure) lingers in the passive construction β we are delighted, as if caught β while the active construction asserts our agency in the experience of joy.