Glee Definition

Origin of Glee

• 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 (chleúē, “joke, jest, scorn”). A poetic word in Middle English, the word was obsolete by 1500, but revived late 18c.

  From Wiktionary

• Middle English gle entertainment from Old English glēo ghel-² in Indo-European roots

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition