jubilee

Etymology

From Late Middle English jubile (“Jewish practice of celebrating the end of a fifty-year period; (Roman Catholicism) year declared by the Pope for remission of sins; celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of an event; (figuratively) occasion of rejoicing”) [and other forms], from Middle French jubile, from Old French jubilee, jubileus (modern French jubilé), from Late Latin iūbilaeus (adjective, also treated as a noun), from Ancient Greek ἰωβηλαῖος (iōbēlaîos, “of a jubilee”), from ἰώβηλος (iṓbēlos, “jubilee”) + -ῐος (-ios, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Ἰώβηλος (Iṓbēlos) is derived from Hebrew יובל (yōḇēl, “ram, trumpet made from a ram’s horn; jubilee”) (because a ram’s horn trumpet was originally used to proclaim the event; see Leviticus 25:9), influenced by Latin jūbilum (“a cry, a shout”) and iūbilō, jūbilō (“to cheer, shout or sing joyfully”) cognates * Italian giubileo * Spanish jubileo

noun

1. (countable, Jewish history) A special year of emancipation supposed to be observed every fifty years, when farming was temporarily stopped, certain houses and land which had been sold could be redeemed by the original owners or their relatives, and Hebrew slaves set free.
   [I]n the old Israel, there had supposedly been a system of ‘Jubilee’, a year in which all land should go back to the family to which it had originally belonged and during which all slaves should be released. 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, “Boundaries Defined (50 CE–300)”, in Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, New York, N.Y.: Viking, published 2010, page 120
2. (countable, by extension)
   1. (Roman Catholicism) A special year (originally held every hundred years, then at more frequent intervals, and now declarable by the Pope at any time and also for periods less than a year) in which plenary indulgences and remission from sin can be granted upon making a pilgrimage to Rome or other designated churches.
   2. A major anniversary of an event, particularly the fiftieth (50th) anniversary of a coronation or marriage.
      The 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne will be a good deal more earthbound: The 95-year-old monarch plans to spend a quiet Sunday at her country estate, Sandringham, where her father died on Feb. 6, 1952. Four days of festivities to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee are scheduled for June. 6 February 2022, Mark Landler, “Queen Elizabeth, anchor in a storm-tossed Britain, marks 70-year reign”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-02-06
3. (figurative)
   1. (countable) A time for release or restitution.
      "Hurrah! hurrah! we bring the Jubilee! / Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes you free!" / So we sung the chorus from Atlanta to the sea, / While we were marching through Georgia. 1865 (date written), [Henry Clay Work], “Marching through Georgia”, in Beadle’s Dime Song Book[…], number 17, New York, N.Y.: Beadle and Company,[…], published 1866, →OCLC, page 57
      The chains of that great power we broke; / The burdened captives were set free, / For Lincoln held the pen, whose stroke / Proclaimed, the year of jubilee. 1890, L[evi] C. McKinstry, “[Lincoln’s White Name]”, in A Poetic Offering to John Greenleaf Whittier[…], Haverhill, Mass.: L. C. McKinstry, →OCLC, page 101
   2. (countable) A time of celebration or rejoicing.
   3. (uncountable) Exultation, rejoicing; jubilation.
   4. (uncountable) The sound of celebration or rejoicing; shouts of joy.
   5. (countable, African-American Vernacular, music, often attributively) A joyful African-American (usually Christian) folk song.
4. (countable, obsolete)
   1. A period of fifty years; a half-century.
   2. (rare) A fiftieth year.