glee

Etymology

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”), Old Norse glȳ (“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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: glē, IPA^(key): /ɡliː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

glee (countable and uncountable, plural glees)

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

   Synonyms: merriment, mirth, gaiety, gloat

   • 1968, The Rolling Stones (music), “Sympathy for the Devil”, in 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.

2. (uncountable) Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
3. (music, countable) An unaccompanied part song for three or more solo voices, not necessarily merry.

Verb

glee (third-person singular simple present glees, present participle gleeing, simple past and past participle gleed)

1. To sing a glee (unaccompanied part song).

Anagrams

• Egle, Lege, lege

Noun

glee f

1. something that is wet because it has been pasted together

See also

• èpperglieëdjómme

Etymology

Compare German klein, Dutch klein.

Adjective

glee

1. small