delibate

verb

1. To taste; to take a sip of.

   obsolete, transitive

   1641: Shackerley Marmion, The Antiquary, Act III: [Duke:] But when he has travell’d and delibated, the French and the Spanish can lye a bed, and expound Astrea, and digest him into complements …

2. To dabble in.

   obsolete, transitive

Where it comes from

First attested in 1623; Borrowed from Latin dēlibātus, perfect passive participle of dēlibō (“to take away from, to taste from”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- + libō (“to taste; to consecrate a liquid”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry delibate (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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