Jubilee definitions
The definition of a jubilee is a special anniversary or celebration.
An anniversary of 25 years of an event is a example of a jubilee.
noun
A season or occasion of joyful celebration.
noun
Jubilation; rejoicing.
noun
In the Hebrew Scriptures, a year of rest to be observed by the Israelites every 50th year, during which slaves were to be set free, alienated property restored to the former owners, and the lands left untilled.
noun
A year during which plenary indulgence may be obtained by the performance of certain pious acts.
noun
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A specially celebrated anniversary, especially a 50th anniversary.
noun
The celebration of such an anniversary.
noun
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
noun
A time or occasion of rejoicing.
noun
Jubilation; rejoicing.
noun
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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.
noun
An anniversary, esp. a 50th or 25th anniversary.
noun
A celebration of this.
noun
(Jewish history) A special year of emancipation supposed to be kept every fifty years, when farming was abandoned and Hebrew slaves were set free. [from 14th c.]
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(Catholicism) A special year (originally held every hundred years, then fifty, and then fewer) in which remission from sin could be granted as well as indulgences upon making a pilgrimage to Rome. [from 15th c.]
noun
Origin of jubilee
From Middle French jubile (French jubilé), from Late Latin jūbilaeus. Beyond this point, the etymology is disputed. Traditionally this derives from Ancient Greek ἰωβηλαῖος (iōbēlaios, “of a jubilee”), from ἰώβηλος (iōbēlos, “jubilee”), from Hebrew יובל (yobēl/yovēl, “ram, ram's horn; jubilee”), presumably because a ram’s horn trumpet was originally used to proclaim the event. More recent scholarship disputes this – while the religious sense is certainly from Hebrew, the term itself is proposed to have Proto-Indo-European roots. Specifically, this interpretation proposed that Latin jūbilaeus is from iūbilō (“I shout for joy”), which predates the Vulgate, and that this verb, as well as Middle Irish ilach (“victory cry”), English yowl, and Ancient Greek ἰύζω (iuzō, “shout”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *yu- (“shout for joy”). In this interpretation, the Hebrew term is instead a borrowing from an Indo-European language, hence ultimately of Proto-Indo-European origin.