glee meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

glee

noun

/ɡliː/

Etymology From Middle English gle, from Old English glēo, glīġ, glēow, glīw (“glee, pleasure, mirth, play, sport; music; mockery”), from Proto-West Germanic *glīw, 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.

Joy; happiness; great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or from another's misfortune.

I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the gods they made.1968, “Sympathy for the Devil”, in The Rolling Stones (music), Beggars Banquet:
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.2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.

An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices, not necessarily merry.

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.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 23, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

Derived terms: glee-beam, glee club, gleecraft, gleeful, gleefully, gleefulness, gleeish, gleek, gleeless, gleemaiden, gleeman, gleesome, gleewoman

glee

verb

Etymology 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”).

To sing a glee (unaccompanied part song).