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jovial

 - 7 dictionary results

jo⋅vi⋅al

  [joh-vee-uhl]
Use jovial in a Sentence
–adjective
1. endowed with or characterized by a hearty, joyous humor or a spirit of good-fellowship: a wonderfully jovial host.
2. (initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the god Jove, or Jupiter.
Origin:
1580–90; < ML joviālis of Jupiter (the planet, supposed to exert a happy influence), equiv. to L jovi- (see Jovian ) + -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
jo⋅vi⋅al⋅ly, adverb
jo⋅vi⋅al⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. merry, jolly, convivial, gay, joyful, mirthful. Jovial, jocose, jocular, jocund agree in referring to someone who is in a good humor. Jovial suggests a hearty, joyous humor: a jovial person. Jocose refers to that which causes laughter; it suggests someone who is playful and given to jesting: with jocose and comical airs. Jocular means humorous, facetious, mirthful, and waggish: jocular enough to keep up the spirits of all around him. Jocund, now a literary word, suggests a cheerful, light-hearted, and sprightly gaiety: glad and jocund company.

Antonyms:
1. gloomy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To jovial
jo·vi·al   (jō'vē-əl)   
adj.  Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer: a jovial host.

[French, probably from Italian giovale, from Old Italian, of Jupiter (regarded as the source of happiness), from Late Latin Ioviālis, from Latin Iuppiter, Iov-, Jupiter; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots.]
jo'vi·al'i·ty (-āl'ĭ-tē) n., jo'vi·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Main Entry:  jovial1
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  full of joy and happiness; merry
Etymology:  Latin jovialis 'pertaining to Jove, Jupiter'
Main Entry:  jovial2
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  pertaining to Jove or Jupiter
Etymology:  Latin jovialis 'pertaining to Jove, Jupiter'
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Word Origin & History

jovial 
1590, from Fr., from It. joviale, lit. "pertaining to Jupiter," from L. Jovialis "of Jupiter," from Jovius (used as gen. of Juppiter) "Jupiter," Roman god of the sky. The meaning "good-humored, merry," is from astrological belief that those born under the sign of the planet Jupiter are of such dispositions. In classical L., the compound Juppiter replaced Old L. Jovis as the god's name. Jovian, in ref. to the planet Jupiter, is from 1794.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

JOVIAL language
(Jule's Own Version of IAL) A version of IAL produced by Jules I. Schwartz in 1959-1960. JOVIAL was based on ALGOL 58, with extensions for large scale real-time programming. It saw extensive use by the US Air Force. The data elements were items, entries (records) and tables.
Versions include JOVIAL I (IBM 709, 1960), JOVIAL II (IBM 7090, 1961) and JOVIAL 3 (1965). Dialects: J3, JOVIAL J73, JS, JTS.
Ada/Jovial Newsletter, Dale Lange +1 (513) 255-4472.
[CACM 6(12):721, Dec 1960].
(1996-07-19)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
JOVIAL
Jules' own version of the international algorithmic language
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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