Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Dainty \Dain"ty\, a. [Compar. {Daintier}; superl. {Daintiest}.]
   1. Rare; valuable; costly. [Obs.]

            Full many a deynt['e] horse had he in stable.
                                                  --Chaucer.

   Note: Hence the proverb ``dainty maketh dearth,'' i. e.,
         rarity makes a thing dear or precious.

   2. Delicious to the palate; toothsome.

            Dainty bits Make rich the ribs.       --Shak.

   3. Nice; delicate; elegant, in form, manner, or breeding;
      well-formed; neat; tender.

            Those dainty limbs which nature lent For gentle
            usage and soft delicacy.              --Milton.

            I would be the girdle. About her dainty, dainty
            waist.                                --Tennyson.

   4. Requiring dainties. Hence: Overnice; hard to please;
      fastidious; squeamish; scrupulous; ceremonious.

            Thew were a fine and dainty people.   --Bacon.

            And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, But shift
            away.                                 --Shak.

   {To make dainty}, to assume or affect delicacy or
      fastidiousness. [Obs.]

            Ah ha, my mistresses! which of you all Will now deny
            to dance? She that makes dainty, She, I'll swear,
            hath corns.                           --Shak.