To cheer or gladden; to make cheerful or to encourage.
From 'en-' plus 'cheer' (to make glad), from Old French 'chiere' (face or countenance), from Latin 'cara.' The meaning shifted from showing a glad face to inspiring gladness in others.
The original sense of 'cheer' was facial expression—a 'cheerful face'—which evolved to mean the emotion itself, showing how humans read feelings from faces and name emotions after their physical expressions.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.