glee
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English gle, from Old English glēo, glīġ, glēow, glīw (“glee, pleasure, mirth, play, sport; music; mockery”), from Proto-Germanic *glīwą (“joy, mirth”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰlew- (“to joke, make fun, enjoy”). Cognate with Scots gle, glie, glew (“game, play, sport, mirth, joy, rejoicing, entertainment, melody, music”), Icelandic glý (“joy, glee, gladness”), Ancient Greek χλεύη (khleúē, “joke, jest, scorn”). A poetic word in Middle English, the word was obsolete by 1500, but revived late 18c.
Noun
glee (countable and uncountable, plural glees)
- (uncountable) Joy; happiness; great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or from another's misfortune.
- 1968, “Sympathy for the Devil”, in The Rolling Stones (music), Beggars Banquet:
- I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the gods they made.
- 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
- Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
- (uncountable) Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- (singing, countable) An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices, not necessarily merry.
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 23, in The History of Pendennis. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- Sometimes they had glees, when Captain Strong’s chest was of vast service, and he boomed out in a prodigious bass, of which he was not a little proud.
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English gleen, glewen, from Old English glēowian (“to sing, play an instrument, jest”), from Proto-West Germanic *glīwōn, from Proto-Germanic *glīwōną. Cognate with Icelandic glýja (“to be gleeful”).
Verb
glee (third-person singular simple present glees, present participle gleeing, simple past and past participle gleed)
- To sing a glee (unaccompanied part song).
Anagrams
Limburgish
Noun
glee f
- something that is wet because it has been pasted together
See also
Pennsylvania German
Etymology
From Middle High German klein, kleine, from Old High German kleini, from Proto-Germanic *klainiz (“shining, fine, splendid, tender”), from Proto-Indo-European *gleh₁y- (“to cleave, stick”). Compare German klein, Dutch klein.
Adjective
glee