De*liv"er*ance (?), n. [F. d'elivrance, fr. d'elivrer.]

1.

The act of delivering or freeing from restraint, captivity, peril, and the like; rescue; as, the deliverance of a captive.

He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives. Luke iv. 18.

One death or one deliverance we will share. Dryden.

2.

Act of bringing forth children.

[Archaic]

Shak.

3.

Act of speaking; utterance.

[Archaic]

Shak.

⇒ In this and in the preceding sense delivery is the word more commonly used.

4.

The state of being delivered, or freed from restraint.

I do desire deliverance from these officers. Shak.

5.

Anything delivered or communicated; esp., an opinion or decision expressed publicly.

[Scot.]

6. Metaph.

Any fact or truth which is decisively attested or intuitively known as a psychological or philosophical datum; as, the deliverance of consciousness.

 

© Webster 1913.