jubilee

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.Examples: "And thou ſhalt number ſeuen Sabbaths of yeeres vnto thee, ſeuen times ſeuen yeeres, and the ſpace of the ſeuen Sabbaths of yeeres, ſhall be vnto thee fourtie and nine yeeres. Then ſhalt thou cauſe the trumpet of the Jubile to ſound, on the tenth day of the ſeuenth moneth, in the day of atonement ſhall ye make the trumpet ſound throughout all your land. And ye ſhall hallow the fiftieth yeere, and proclaime libertie throughout all the land, vnto al the inhabitants thereof: It ſhalbe a Jubile vnto you, and ye ſhall returne euery man vnto his poſſeſſion, and ye ſhall returne euery man vnto his family."; "Touching this yeere of Iubilee is much controverſie. The ancient Authors account it the fiftieth yeere. […] Culuiſius hath at large diſputed this queſtion againſt Creutzhemius and Bucholcerus, by diuers arguments prouing that the Iubilee vvas but fortie nine yeeres complete, and that the fiftieth yeere vvas the firſt onvvards of another Iubilee or Sabbath of yeeres: […]"; "[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."Jewishcountable

2. (countable, by extension)broadlycountableuncountable

3. (countable, by extension)Examples: "[A] married couple, when celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage-day, are said to keep their golden jubilee, but on the 25th anniversary they have credit only for a silver jubilee."; "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."broadlycountableuncountable

4. (figuratively)Examples: "[T]hough it be in the povver of the vveakeſt arme to take avvay life, it is not in the ſtrongeſt to deprive us of death: […] the firſt day of our Jubilee is death; the Devill hath therefore failed of his deſires; vvee are happier vvith death than vve ſhould have been vvithout it: there is no miſery but in himſelfe vvhere there is no end of miſery: […]"; ""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."; "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."countablefiguratively

5. (figuratively)Examples: "But you firſt ſhall taſte / The bounty of our Court, with royall Preſents / Both to the Duke your maſter, and the Princeſſe; / It done, prepare we for this great ſolemnity, / Of Hymeneall Iubilies."countablefiguratively

6. (figuratively)Examples: "Hee cauſed his little Sonne to goe vvith great State to Sandai to the Dairi, that is, to bovv the head thrice before him dovvne to the Mats, vvho entertayned him vvith a ſolemne feaſt, vvith great Iubilee in alteration of names and titles of honour to the Nobles."; "The peoples joy to knovv us reconcild, / Is added to the Iubile of the day, / VVe have no more a faction but one heart, / Peace flovv in every boſome."; "Was it for Peveril of the Peak, in the jubilee of his spirits, to consider how his wife was to find beef and mutton to feast his neighbours?"figurativelyuncountable