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merry
- 6 dictionary resultsmer⋅ry
[mer-ee] 
–adjective, mer⋅ri⋅er, mer⋅ri⋅est.
—Idiom| 1. | full of cheerfulness or gaiety; joyous in disposition or spirit: a merry little man. |
| 2. | laughingly happy; mirthful; festively joyous; hilarious: a merry time at the party. |
| 3. | Archaic. causing happiness; pleasant; delightful. |
| 4. | make merry,
|
Origin:
bef. 900; ME meri(e), myrie, murie, OE myr(i)ge, mer(i)ge pleasant, delightful
bef. 900; ME meri(e), myrie, murie, OE myr(i)ge, mer(i)ge pleasant, delightful
Related forms:
mer⋅ri⋅ly, adverb
mer⋅ri⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. happy, blithe, blithesome, frolicsome, cheery, glad. See gay. 2. jolly, jovial, gleeful.
1. happy, blithe, blithesome, frolicsome, cheery, glad. See gay. 2. jolly, jovial, gleeful.
Antonyms:
1. sad. 2. solemn.
1. sad. 2. solemn.
Mer⋅ry
[mer-ee] –noun
| a female given name. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To merry
| mer·ry (měr'ē) adj. mer·ri·er, mer·ri·est
[Middle English merri, from Old English mirige, pleasant; see mregh-u- in Indo-European roots.] mer'ri·ly adv., mer'ri·ness n. |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Merry
Mer"ry\, a. [Compar. Merrier; superl. Merriest.] [OE. merie, mirie, murie, merry, pleasant, AS. merge, myrige, pleasant; cf. murge, adv.; prob. akin to OHG. murg, short, Goth. gama['u]rgjan to shorten; cf. L. murcus a coward, who cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of making the time seem short. Cf. Mirth.]1. Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; sportive. They drank, and were merry with him. --Gen. xliii. 34. I am never merry when I hear sweet music. --Shak. 2. Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms. --Jas. v. 13. 3. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight; as, ? merry jest. "Merry wind and weather." --Spenser. Merry dancers. See under Dancer. Merry men, followers; retainers. [Obs.] His merie men commanded he To make him bothe game and glee. --Chaucer. To make merry, to be jovial; to indulge in hilarity; to feast with mirth. --Judg. ix. 27. Syn: Cheerful; blithe; lively; sprightly; vivacious; gleeful; joyous; mirthful; jocund; sportive; hilarious.Merry
Mer"ry\, n. (Bot.) A kind of wild red cherry.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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merry
O.E. myrige "pleasing, agreeable," from P.Gmc. *murgijaz, which probably originally meant "short-lasting" (cf. O.H.G. murg "short," Goth. gamaurgjan "to shorten"), from PIE *mrghu- (cf. Gk. brakhys, L. brevis "short," see brief (adj.)). Connection to "pleasure" is likely via notion of "making time fly" (cf. Ger. Kurzweil "pastime," lit. "a short time;" O.N. skemta "to amuse," from skamt, neut. of skammr "short"). The only exact cognate for meaning outside Eng. was in M.Du. (cf. M.Du. mergelijc "joyful"). For vowel evolution, see bury.
"Bot vchon enle we wolde were fyf, þe mo þe myryer." [c.1300]The word had much wider senses in M.E., e.g. "pleasant-sounding" (of animal voices), "fine" (of weather), "handsome" (of dress), "pleasant-tasting" (of herbs). Merry-making is attested from 1714; merry-man "companion or follower of a knight, outlaw, etc." is attested from c.1386. The first record of merry-go-round is from 1729. Merry-bout "an incident of sexual intercourse" was low slang from 1780. Merry-begot "illegitimate" (adj.), "bastard" (n.) is from 1785. Merrie England (now frequently satirical or ironic) is 14c. meri ingland, originally in a broader sense of "bountiful, prosperous." Merry Monday was 16c. term for "the Monday before Shrove Tuesday" (Mardi Gras).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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