DEL. Saxon for part.—Del a bit, not a bit, a phrase much altered for the worse by those not aware of its antiquity.
DEL CREDERE. A percentage on a cargo, under particular circumstances of trust. Also, the commission under which brokers sometimes guarantee to the insured the solvency of the underwriters.
DELEGATES. Not heard of in the navy since the mutiny at the Nore.
DELFYN. The old form of spelling dolphin.
DELICTUM. To be actual, must unite intention and act.
DELIVER. To yield, to rescue, to deliver battle, to deliver a broadside, a shot, or a blow. Also, to take goods from the ship to the shore. To discharge a cargo from a vessel into the keeping of its consignees.
DELIVERED. The state of the harpoon when imbedded in the body of a fish, so that the barbs hold fast.
DELIVERERS. Particular artificers employed in our early ships of war, in constructing the castles.
DELL. A narrow valley, ravine, or small dale.
DELTA. A name given by the Greeks to the alluvial tract inclosed between the bifurcating branches of the Nile and the sea-line. It is well known that rivers which deposit great quantities of matter, do also very often separate into two or more branches, previous to their discharge into the sea; thus forming triangular spaces, aptly called deltas from their resemblance to the Greek letter Δ.