Word of the Day Archive
Thursday September 29, 2005

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

 

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