smile
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsmaɪl/
ipa: /ˈsmaɪ.əl/
rhymes: -aɪl
Forms: form: smiles
form: smiling
form: smiled
form: smiled
Etymology: From Middle English smilen (“to smile”), from Middle Low German *smîlen (“to smile”), from Middle High German smielen, from Old High German smielēn, from Proto-West Germanic *smīlēn, from Proto-Germanic *smīlāną (“to smile”), from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to laugh, be glad, wonder”).
Cognate with Danish smile, Swedish smila, Faroese smíla (“to smile”); also Saterland Frisian smielje (“to smile”), Low German smielen (“to smile”), Dutch smuilen (“to smile”), Middle High German smielen (“to smile”). Related also to Old High German smierōn (“to smile”), Old English smerian (“to laugh at”), Old English smercian, smearcian ("to smile"; > English smirk), Latin mīror (“to wonder at”).
Senses: examples: text: When you smile, the whole world smiles with you.
text: I don't know what he's smiling about.
text: She smiles a beautiful smile.
text: “[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: Once I was a young man / And all I thought I had to do was smile
ref: 1969, Mike d'Abo, “Handbags & Gladrags”, performed by Rod Stewart:
text: If a man smiles all the time he's probably selling something that doesn't work.
ref: 1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 70:
text: She adds: "We have two mottos at Kingston which we've stuck to the window in the ticket office. One says 'If you can be anything in the world then be kind', while the other reads: 'Smile while you've still got teeth'.
ref: 2019 December 18, Paul Stephen, “This is the best job I've ever had”, in Rail, page 52:
glosses: To have (a smile) on one's face.
examples: text: to smile consent, or a welcome
text: I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
glosses: To express by smiling.
examples: text: When last I saw thy young blue eyes, they smiled.
ref: 1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza I:
glosses: To express amusement, pleasure, or love and kindness.
examples: text: The sun smiled down from a clear summer sky.
ref: 1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:
glosses: To look cheerful and joyous; to have an appearance suited to excite joy.
examples: text: The gods smiled on his labours.
glosses: To be propitious or favourable; to countenance.
examples: text: The fruit looks a bit like a large pink mango or guava, until it has ripened. Then it “smiles,” bursting open, exposing yellow meat with black seeds.
ref: 2003, Jessica B. Harris, Beyond Gumbo: Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim, page 20:
glosses: Of ackee fruit: to open fully, indicating that it is no longer toxic, and ready to be picked.
Derived terms: bite and smile
outsmile
smile a thousand smiles
smile from ear to ear
smile like a mule eating briars
smiler
smile-smirk
smiling death
the gods smile on someone