jealous

Etymology

First attested in 1382. From Middle English jelous, gelous, gelus, from Old French jalous, from Late Latin zelosus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”). Doublet of zealous.

adj

1. Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity.
2. Protective; zealously guarding; careful in the protection of something (or someone) one has or appreciates, especially one's spouse or lover.
3. Envious; feeling resentful or angered toward someone for a perceived advantage or success, material or otherwise.
   I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
   The neighbouring towns were jealous of this honourable supremacy. 1899, Mark Twain, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
   I'm jealous because I'm single.
4. Suspecting, suspicious.
   At length … the Duke demanded to know of Durward who his guide was, … and wherefore he had been led to entertain suspicion of him. To the first of these questions Quentin Durward answered by naming Hayraddin Maugrabin, the Bohemian; … and in reply to the third point he mentioned what had happened in the Franciscan convent near Namur, how the Bohemian had been expelled from the holy house, and how, jealous of his behaviour, he had dogged him to a rendezvous with one of William de la Marck's lanzknechts, where he overheard them arrange a plan for surprising the ladies who were under his protection. 1823, Walter Scott, Quentin Durward

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive, slang) To harass or attack (somebody) out of jealousy.
   If I go back, he starts his jealousing again. Drinking and jealousing. 2005, Andrew Lansdown, The Dispossessed, page 11
   Jealousing can take place: You may notice some of your fellow female co-workers that can be jealousing you. 2014, Desmond Ihenze, Secrets for Ladies, page 198
   But another part of me is jealousing because Xifeng is looking at Ify like she is special, almost like she is wanting to call her daughter, and I am wanting Xifeng all to myself. 2020, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebel Sisters, page 285
2. (transitive, Australian Aboriginal) To deliberately make (someone) jealous of another person's (often their partner's) associations with other people.
   […] where the victim of an assault had been 'jealousing' the offender about her sister. 2013, Thalia Anthony, Indigenous People, Crime and Punishment