rejoice

present singular third person rejoices · participle present rejoicing · participle past rejoiced · past rejoiced · alternative obsolete rejoyce

1. intransitiveTo be very happy, be delighted, exult; to feel joy.First known use 14th c.

   Leicester closed out the win to spark emotional scenes as those inside Wembley rejoiced in a landmark victory.

   2021 May 15, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport

   2 more examples

   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.

   1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, Oxford University Press, published 1973, §6

   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.

   1945 September and October, H. C. Casserley, “The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 265

   Synonyms: blithen, delight, rapture

2. obsoletetransitiveTo have (someone) as a lover or spouse; to enjoy sexually.First known use 15th–16th c.

   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

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book VI

3. transitiveTo make happy, exhilarate.First known use 15th c.

   Were he [Cain] alive, it would rejoice his soul to see what mischief it had made.

   1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations

   1 more example

   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.

   1982, Lawrence Durrell, “Constance”, in Avignon Quintet, Faber & Faber, published 2004, pages 790–1

   Synonyms: elate, happify, beatify, enrapture, begladden, blissen, bright, cheer

4. obsoleteTo 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.