Etymograph

English

delivery

Delivery comes from Middle English deliveri, via Anglo-Norman, from Old French delivrer ‘to set free’, from de- + Latin līberō ‘to free’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīber1‘free’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīberō1‘to free, liberate’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400delivrer1‘to set free’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deliveri1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1919delivery1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English delivery
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1919, William Somerset Maugham, chapter 55: “I shall not tell what Dr. Coutras related to…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīberWiktionary, English delivery‘free’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīberōWiktionary, English delivery‘to free, liberate’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400delivrerWiktionary, English delivery‘to set free’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deliveriWiktionary, English delivery
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1919deliveryWiktionary, English delivery. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1919, William Somerset Maugham, chapter 55: “I shall not tell what Dr. Coutras related to…”

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Today it means

noun The act of conveying something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “delivery”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin līber / delivery