Rejoicing

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈd͡ʒoɪ.sɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Showing or experiencing great happiness and celebration
2. Feeling or displaying joyful emotion, often publicly
3. Expressing delight or gladness, especially in response to good news

Etymology: "Rejoicing" is the form of "rejoice" used as a noun and as a participle, so its history is that of the verb. "Rejoice" came into Middle English from Old French "resjoir", which combined the prefix "re-" with "joir", meaning to be glad. The "re-" in this case intensifies the sense rather than signaling a return, so the verb means something closer to "joy greatly" than "joy again." The English word "rejoy" is a doublet of "rejoice": both descend from the same Old French source but arrived as separate words, with "rejoy" the older-sounding and now rarer of the two. Its French and Romance relatives show the same pattern, such as French "réjouir" and Italian "gioire," which share the core idea of gladness.

Synonyms: celebrating, exulting

Antonyms: mourning