Jeal'ous, a.
(jĕl'us), a. [O. Fr. jalous, N. Fr. jaloux, Pr. gelos, It. geloso, zeloso, Sp. zeloso, L. Lat. zelosus, from Fr. zèle, It., Sp., & Pg. zelo, zeal, ardor, from Lat. zelus, Gr. ζῆλος, emulation, zeal, jealousy.]
Sense 1. Filled with anxious apprehension; uneasily vigilant; suspicious.
Sense 2. Suspiciously vigilant; anxiously careful and concerned for any thing; solicitous in a matter affecting character or honor.
I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. I Kings xix. 10.
I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. 2 Cor. xi. 2.
Sense 3. Apprehensive; uneasy through fear that good will, interest, affection, or the like, regarded as belonging to one's self, is transferred to another; pained by suspicions of preference given to another.
'Tis doing wrong creates such doubts as these, Renders us jealous, and destroys our peace. Waller.
Synonyms— Suspicious; anxious; envious.—JEALOUS, SUSPICIOUS. Suspicious is the wider term. We suspect a person when we distrust his honesty and imagine he has some bad design. We are jealous when we suspect him of aiming to deprive us of what is our own, and what we dearly prize. Iago began by awakening the suspicions of Othello, and converted them at last into the deadliest jealousy. “Suspicion may be excited by some kind of accusation, not supported by evidence sufficient for conviction, but sufficient to trouble the repose of confidence.”
“Jealousy is a painful apprehension of rivalry in cases that are peculiarly interesting to us.” Cogan.