exult

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French exulter,^[2][3] which the OED, Etymonline, Klein and Weekley simply call French,^[4][5][6][7] from Latin exsultō (“to leap up, leap for joy; to rejoice, triumph”), also spelled exultō.^[4][5][2][3] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English derive the English verb directly from Latin.^[8][9][10] The Latin verb is a frequentative of exsiliō (“to leap out, leap up”), from ex- (“out”) and saliō (“to leap”);^[4][5][2] Klein notes that it contains the frequentative saltō (“to leap, jump, dance”), with a change of the Latin vowel.^[6] Etymonline traces the verb for leaping to an Indo-European root of uncertain form, with cognates such as Ancient Greek ἅλλομαι (hállomai, “to leap”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To spring or leap up, to leap for joy: the first record is in P. Levens's Manipulus Vocabulorum (1570),^[4][2] although Merriam-Webster gives 1548 for this sense.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The English verb began with the Latin image of leaping or dancing for joy.^[5] The sense "to rejoice greatly, triumph" is recorded from 1593, in Hooker's Of Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie,^[4] or 1594 in Barnhart,^[2] and it outlived the literal one, which the OED last records in 1727.^[4] Weekley points out that to exult over a defeated enemy is, by origin, to do a dance of joy over his body, and compares insult.^[7] Johnson (1755) has only "to rejoice above measure; to triumph", with Shakespeare's "insult, exult, and rail" from As You Like It.^[11] A transitive use, "to say exultingly", appeared in the early 20th century.^[9] The related noun exultation is older than the verb: it is recorded before 1400 in the phrase exultacion of the cross.^[2]

Timeline

• 1570 – to spring or leap up, to leap for joy (obsolete by 1727).^[4][2]
• 1593 – to rejoice greatly, be elated, triumph.^[4]
• 1653 – adjective exultant.^[2]
• early 20th century – transitive, to say exultingly.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be very joyful; to rejoice greatly: The whole village exulted at the news of the rescue.^[12][3][4]
2. To show triumph or delight, especially over another's defeat; usually with over or in: The victors exulted over their beaten rivals.^[12][3]
3. (transitive) To say exultingly.^[9]
4. (obsolete, 1570–1727) To spring or leap up; to leap for joy.^[4][3][9]

Word family

• exultance
• exultingly

Related words

• exultant
• exultation
• exalt
• salient
• sally
• saltant
• desultory
• insult

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins