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.

Dainty \Dain"ty\, n.; pl. {Dainties}. [OE. deinie, dainte,
   deintie, deyntee, OF. deinti['e] delicacy, orig., dignity,
   honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See {Deign}, and
   cf. {Dignity}.]
   1. Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in
      anything. [Obs.]

            I ne told no deyntee of her love.     --Chaucer.

   2. That which is delicious or delicate; a delicacy.

            That precious nectar may the taste renew Of Eden's
            dainties, by our parents lost.        --Beau. & Fl.

   3. A term of fondness. [Poetic] --B. Jonson.

   Syn: {Dainty}, {Delicacy}.

   Usage: These words are here compared as denoting articles of
          food. The term delicacy as applied to a nice article
          of any kind, and hence to articles of food which are
          particularly attractive. Dainty is stronger, and
          denotes some exquisite article of cookery. A hotel may
          be provided with all the delicacies of the season, and
          its table richly covered with dainties.

                These delicacies I mean of taste, sight, smell,
                herbs, fruits, and flowers, Walks and the melody
                of birds.                         --Milton.

                [A table] furnished plenteously with bread, And
                dainties, remnants of the last regale. --Cowper.

Source : WordNet®

dainty
     adj 1: affectedly dainty or refined [syn: {mincing}, {niminy-piminy},
             {prim}, {twee}]
     2: of delicate composition and artistry; "a dainty teacup"; "an
        exquisite cameo" [syn: {exquisite}]
     3: especially pleasing to the taste; "a dainty dish to set
        before a kind"; "a tasty morsel" [syn: {tasty}]
     4: excessively fastidious and easily disgusted; "too nice about
        his food to take to camp cooking"; "so squeamish he would
        only touch the toilet handle with his elbow" [syn: {nice},
         {overnice}, {prissy}, {squeamish}]
     n : something considered choice to eat [syn: {delicacy}, {goody},
          {kickshaw}, {treat}]
     [also: {daintiest}, {daintier}]