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jovial

jo·vial

UK/ˈd͡ʒəʊ.vɪ.əl/ US/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.vɪ.əl/ rare obsolete

adjective

1.

full of or showing high-spirited merriment

  • “when hearts were young and gay”
  • “a poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company” Wordsworth
  • “the jolly crowd at the reunion”
  • “jolly old Saint Nick”
  • “a jovial old gentleman”
  • “have a merry Christmas”
  • “peals of merry laughter”
  • “a mirthful laugh”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

First attested in 1590; borrowed from Middle French jovial (“under the influence of Jupiter; of Jove; jovial, jolly”), from Italian gioviale (“(now obsolete) born under the influence of the planet Jupiter”) (attested in Dante, Paradiso, canto XVIII, early 14th century), from Late Latin Ioviālis (“relating to the Roman god Jupiter”), from Iuppiter, Iovis (“the Roman god Jove or Jupiter, counterpart of the Greek god Zeus”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to be bright; heaven, sky”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); analysable as Jove + -ial. Sense 1 (“cheerful and good-humoured”) refers to the fact that individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter were believed to have that disposition.

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.