noun

1. Jewish History a year-long celebration held every fifty years in which all bondmen were freed, mortgaged lands were restored to the original owners, and land was left fallow: Lev. 25:8-17
2. 1. an anniversary, esp. a 50th or 25th anniversary
   2. a celebration of this
3. a time or occasion of rejoicing
4. jubilation; rejoicing
5. R.C.Ch. a year proclaimed as a solemn time for gaining a plenary indulgence and for receiving absolution, on certain conditions: an ordinary jubilee occurs every twenty-five years

Etymology: ME < OFr jubile < LL(Ec) jubilaeus < Gr(Ec) iōbēlaios < Heb yōbēl, a ram, ram's horn used as a trumpet to announce the sabbatical year: infl. by L jubilum: see jubilate