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Hilarity
5 dictionary results for: hilarity
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
hi·lar·i·ty       [hi-lar-i-tee, -lair-, hahy-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.cheerfulness; merriment; mirthfulness.
2.boisterous gaiety or merriment.
[Origin: 1560–70; earlier hilaritie < L hilaritās, equiv. to hilari(s) (see hilarious) + -tās -ty2]

—Synonyms 2. See mirth.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hi·lar·i·ty       (hĭ-lār'ĭ-tē, -lâr'-, hī-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Great merriment.


[Middle English hilarite, good spirits, from Old French, from Latin hilaritās, from hilaris, cheerful, from Greek hilaros.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hilarity 
1440, from L. hilaritas (gen. hilaritatis) "cheerfulness, gaiety," from hilaris "cheerful, gay," from Gk. hilaros, related to hilaos "graceful, kindly." In ancient Rome, Hilaria (neut. pl. of hilaris) were a class of holidays, times of pomp and rejoicing; there were public ones in honor of Cybele at the spring equinoxes as well as private ones on the day of a marriage or a son's birth.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
hilarity

noun
great merriment 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hilarity

Hi*lar"i*ty\ (?; 277), n. [L. hilaritas: cf. F. hilarit['e]. See Hilarious.] Boisterous mirth; merriment; jollity. --Goldsmith.

Note: Hilarity differs from joy: the latter, excited by good news or prosperity, is an affection of the mind; the former, produced by social pleasure, drinking, etc., which rouse the animal spirits, is more demonstrative.

Syn: Glee; cheerfulness; mirth; merriment; gayety; joyousness; exhilaration; joviality; jollity.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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