jelly

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• gelly (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛl.i/
• Rhymes: -ɛli

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology 1

Old French gelee, from geler (“to congeal”), from Latin gelū.

Noun

jelly (countable and uncountable, plural jellies)

1. (New Zealand, Australia, UK) A dessert made by boiling gelatine, sugar and some flavouring (often derived from fruit) and allowing it to set
2. A clear or translucent fruit preserve, made from fruit juice and set using either naturally occurring, or added, pectin
   • 1945, Fannie Merritt Farmer and Wilma Lord Perkins revisor, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Eighth edition:

     Perfect jelly is of appetizing flavor; beautifully colored and translucent; tender enough to cut easily with a spoon, yet firm enough to hold its shape when turned from the glass.

   • 1975, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, The Joy of Cooking, 5th revision:

     Jelly has great clarity. Two cooking processes are involved. First, the juice alone is extracted from the fruit. Only that portion thin and clear enough to drip through a cloth is cooked with sugar until sufficiently firm to hold its shape. It is never stiff and never gummy.

3. A similar dish made with meat.

   calf's-foot jelly

4. (zoology) Short for jellyfish.
5. (slang, now rare) A pretty girl; a girlfriend.
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 25:

     ‘Gowan goes to Oxford a lot,’ the boy said. ‘He′s got a jelly there.’

6. (US, slang) A large backside, especially a woman's.
   • 2001, Destiny's Child, “Bootylicious” (song)

     I shake my jelly at every chance / When I whip with my hips you slip into a trance

   • 2001, George Dell, Dance Unto the Lord, page 94:

     At that Sister Samantha seemed to shake her jelly so that she sank back into her chair.

7. (colloquial) Short for gelignite.
8. (colloquial) A jelly shoe.
   • 2006, David L. Marcus, What It Takes to Pull Me Through:

     Mary Alice gazed at a picture of herself wearing jellies and an oversized turquoise T-shirt that matched her eyes […]

Synonyms

• (dessert made by boiling gelatin): (US) jello, Jell-O
• (fruit preserve): jam, marmalade

Derived terms

Derived terms

comb jelly jellification jellify jelly baby jelly bean

jelly bracelet jellyfish jellylike royal jelly

Translations

dessert

• Arabic: هلام m (hulām)
• Catalan: gelatina f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 果凍, 果冻 (zh) (guǒdòng), 果子凍, 果子凍 (guǒzidòng)

• Finnish: hyytelö (fi)
• French: gelée (fr) f
• German: Gelee (de) n, Sulz (de)
• Greek: ζελές (el) m (zelés), ζελέ (el) n (zelé)
• Hungarian: zselé (hu)
• Italian: gelatina f

• Japanese: ゼリー (zerī)
• Korean: 젤리 (jelli)
• Latvian: želeja f
• Lithuanian: želė (lt) f, drebučiai pl
• Macedonian: желе n (źelé)
• Persian: ژله (fa) (žele)
• Portuguese: gelatina (pt)
• Romanian: jeleu (ro) n
• Russian: желе (ru) n (želé)
• Spanish: gelatina (es) f, jalea (es) f
• Turkish: jöle (tr)

sweet gelatinous substance derived from fruit juices and pectin

• Czech: želé n
• French: gelée (fr) f
• German: Gelee (de) n
• Greek: ζελατίνη (el) f (zelatíni)

• Russian: желе (ru) n (žel'é)
• Spanish: jalea (es) m
• Turkish: pelte (tr)

jam

• Catalan: melmelada f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 果醬, 果酱 (zh) (guǒjiàng)

• Dutch: gelei (nl)
• Finnish: hillo (fi)
• French: confiture (fr) f
• German: Marmelade (de) f, Gelee (de) n
• Greek: μαρμελάδα (el) f (marmeláda), ζελέ (el) n (zelé) (π.χ. κυδώνι)
• Italian: marmellata (it) f

• Japanese: ジャム (ja) (jamu)
• Latin: cylon
• Portuguese: geléia (pt)
• Romanian: marmeladă (ro) f
• Russian: джем (ru) m (džem), мармелад (ru) m (marmelád)
• Spanish: mermelada (es) f, confitura (es) f
• Swedish: sylt (sv) c, marmelad (sv) c
• Turkish: marmelat (tr)

sieved jam

• Dutch: gelei (nl)
• Finnish: marmeladi (fi)
• German: Gelee (de) n

• Italian: gelatina f
• Turkish: jöle (tr)

meat dish

• Finnish: aladobi (fi)

• Greek: πηκτή (el) f (piktí)

large backside

• French: gros cul

• Russian: жопа (ru) f (žópa)

Verb

jelly (third-person singular simple present jellies, present participle jellying, simple past and past participle jellied)

1. To wiggle like jelly.
2. To make jelly.

Translations

to wiggle like jelly

• Finnish: tytistä

to make jelly

• Finnish: hyytelöidä

Etymology 2

From jealous by shortening.

Adjective

jelly (comparative more jelly, superlative most jelly)

1. (slang) Jealous.
   • 2011 28 February, Abby Normal [username], “Re: OT VERY FUNNY: MY NEW HERO CHARLIE SHEEN”, rec.games.pinball, Usenet:

     If the guy wants to party and bang porn stars, and he's not hurting anyone who really cares?
     I think a lot of guys are just jelly! :-)

   • 2011, "Exchange smiles, not saliva", The Banner (Grand Blanc High School), Volume 47, Issue 2, December 2011, page 17:

     "I think other people make rude comments because they're jelly [jealous] bro," Schroer said. "We're just showing our love to other people."

   • 2012 10 January, pussykatt [username], “BLIND GOSSIP 01/09/12 **BLIND ITEM 2**”, alt.gossip.celebrities, Usenet:

     Shame on all you haters out there! You’re all just jelly!

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see the citations page.