{ Diamond anniversary, jubilee, etc. } One
celebrated upon the completion of sixty, or, according to some,
seventy-five, years from the beginning of the thing
commemorated.
Ju"bi*lee (?), n. [F.
jubilé, L. jubilaeus, Gr. &?;, fr. Heb.
y&?;bel the blast of a trumpet, also the grand sabbatical
year, which was announced by sound of trumpet.]
1. (Jewish Hist.) Every fiftieth year,
being the year following the completion of each seventh sabbath of
years, at which time all the slaves of Hebrew blood were liberated,
and all lands which had been alienated during the whole period
reverted to their former owners. [In this sense spelled also,
in some English Bibles, jubile.] Lev. xxv. 8-17.
2. The joyful commemoration held on the
fiftieth anniversary of any event; as, the jubilee of Queen
Victoria's reign; the jubilee of the American Board of
Missions.
3. (R. C. Ch.) A church solemnity or
ceremony celebrated at Rome, at stated intervals, originally of one
hundred years, but latterly of twenty-five; a plenary and
extraordinary indulgence granted by the sovereign pontiff to the
universal church. One invariable condition of granting this
indulgence is the confession of sins and receiving of the
eucharist.
4. A season of general joy.
The town was all a jubilee of
feasts.
Dryden.
5. A state of joy or exultation. [R.]
"In the jubilee of his spirits." Sir W. Scott.
{ Diamond anniversary, jubilee, etc. } One
celebrated upon the completion of sixty, or, according to some,
seventy-five, years from the beginning of the thing
commemorated.