rejoice

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English rejoicen, rejoisen, from Old French resjoir. Compare also English rejoy.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɔɪs/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪs

Verb

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rejoice (third-person singular simple present rejoices, present participle rejoicing, simple past and past participle rejoiced)

  1. (intransitive) To be very happy, be delighted, exult; to feel joy. [from 14th c.]
    • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, Oxford University Press, published 1973, §6:
      Obscurity, indeed, is painful to the mind as well as to the eye ; but to bring light from obscurity, by whatever labour, must needs to be delightful and rejoicing.
    • 1945 September and October, H. C. Casserley, “The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 265:
      At Waterhouses and Hulme End the usual booking office, waiting room and other station accommodation were to be found, but the remaining stations […] were mere stopping places, some of which rejoiced in a small shed for waiting passengers, others without any kind of shelter whatsoever.
    • 2021 May 15, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      Leicester closed out the win to spark emotional scenes as those inside Wembley rejoiced in a landmark victory.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To have (someone) as a lover or spouse; to enjoy sexually. [15th–16th c.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book VI:
      ye that are a knyghte wyueles that ye wyl not loue some mayden or gentylwoman / […] / but hit is noysed that ye loue quene Gueneuer / and that she hath ordeyned by enchauntement that ye shal neuer loue none other / but her / ne none other damoysel ne lady shall reioyse you
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  3. (transitive) To make happy, exhilarate. [from 15th c.]
    • 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations:
      Were he [Cain] alive, it would rejoice his soul to see what mischief it had made.
    • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, “Constance”, in Avignon Quintet, Faber & Faber, published 2004, pages 790–1:
      But good news awaited them in the form of permission to travel about the area replenishing medical stocks in hospitals and clinics, and this task was delegated to Constance, as the newcomer, a fact which rejoiced her.
  4. (obsolete) To enjoy.
    • c. 1449–1455, Reginald Peacock, Represser of over-much weeting [blaming] of the Clergie
      his brother Constans next aftir him rejoiced the same west-parti.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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  • “rejoice in” (US) / “rejoice in” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
  • The Oxford Dictionary of English, 2005 edition, also lists rejoice in: (British) used ironically to draw attention to a strange characteristic, especially a name: the guard rejoiced in the name of Blossom.
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