"Xcvii" Quotes from Famous Books
... with epithets, both of joy and gladness and of sorrow; compare "She thanked Dyomede for alle ... his gode chere" (Chaucer, Troylus) with "If they sing ... 'tis with so dull a cheere" (Shakespeare, Sonnets, xcvii.). An early transference in meaning was to hospitality or entertainment, and hence to food and drink, "good cheer." The sense of a shout of encouragement or applause is a late use. Defoe (Captain Singleton) speaks of it as a sailor's word, and the meaning ... — Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 - "Chtelet" to "Chicago" • Various |