cheer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /t͡ʃɪə/ (UK); /t͡ʃɪɹ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English chere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman chere (“the face”), Old French chiere, face, countenance, look,^[2][3] from Late Latin cara, face (source also of Spanish cara),^[2][4] possibly from Greek κάρα (kára, “head”),^[2][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ker-, horn, head.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The face, especially as expressing emotion: about 1200 in Etymonline, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle in Barnhart.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From the face the word came to mean its expression, hence a mood or frame of mind, from the mid-13th century,^[2][6] which could be good or bad, sorrowful cheer or heavy cheer,^[6] but the positive sense, gladness, has predominated since about 1400,^[2] first recorded before 1393 in Gower.^[4][7] Kindly welcome and entertainment are from before 1300,^[7] and the food provided, fare, from 1375.^[7] The greeting what cheer? (mid-15th century) was taken up by the Algonquian peoples of southern New England from the Puritans.^[2] A shout of encouragement is recorded by 1720, perhaps from nautical slang;^[2][4] cheers as a salutation before drinking is from 1919.^[4] The verb, to comfort, is from the late 14th century,^[2] to encourage by words or deeds from the early 15th,^[2] and to salute with shouts by the late 18th century.^[2] Barnhart notes that be of good cheer looks tautological today but preserves the old sense, mood.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – the face.^[2]
• mid-13th century – a mood.^[2]
• 1375 – food and drink.^[7]
• before 1393 – gladness.^[4]
• early 15th century – to encourage (verb).^[2]
• 1720 – a shout of encouragement.^[4]
• 1919 – cheers!^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A shout of approval, encouragement or congratulation.
2. Gaiety or joy; good spirits.
3. A source of comfort or happiness.
4. Festive food and drink.
5. A rehearsed chant shouted in unison by cheerleaders.

Verb

1. To make or become happier or more hopeful, often with up.
2. To applaud or acclaim with shouts.
3. To encourage with shouts, often with on.

Word family

• cheerer
• cheeringly
• cheerleader
• cheerless
• cheerly
• cheerful
• cheers
• cheery

Related words

• cerebral

Usage notes

Cheer, a pheasant of the Himalayas, is a different word, from Nepali.^[3][8] Trench notes that cheer once meant the face or countenance, as in the cheer and the countenance, a sense now lost.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker