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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

delineate.

To sketch out, draw or trace an outline.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/dɪˈlɪniːeɪt/UK
  1. To sketch out, draw or trace an outline.

  2. To depict, represent with pictures.

  3. To describe or depict with words or gestures.

  4. To outline or mark out.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

First attested in 1559; borrowed from Latin dēlīneātus, perfect passive participle of dēlīneo (“to sketch out, to delineate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from dē- + līnea (“line”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

adj/dɪˈlɪniːeɪt/UK
  1. Delineated, sketched out.

    obsolete
  2. Sketched out, portrayed, described, defined.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

First attested in 1559; borrowed from Latin dēlīneātus, perfect passive participle of dēlīneo (“to sketch out, to delineate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from dē- + līnea (“line”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.