Word of the Day Archive
Saturday April 13, 2002
jocund \JOCK-uhnd; JOH-kuhnd\ , adjective:
Full of or expressing high-spirited merriment; light-hearted; mirthful.
His careless manners and jocund repartees might well seem incompatible with anything serious.
-- William Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico
There was once a widow, fair, young, free, rich, and withal very pleasant and jocund, that fell in love with a certain round and well-set servant of a college.
-- Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (translated by Thomas Shelton)
Many a glad good morrow and jocund laugh from the young folk
Made the bright air brighter.
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Evangeline"
Jocund is from Old French jocond, from Latin jucundus, "pleasant, agreeable, delightful," from juvare, "to please, to delight."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for jocund