different between felicity vs mirth

English

Etymology

From Middle English felicite (“bliss, happiness, joy; delight, pleasure; a source of happiness; good fortune; prosperity; well-being; of a planet: in an influential position”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French felicité (modern French félicité (“bliss, happiness; felicity”)), from Latin f?l?cit?tem, the accusative singular of f?l?cit?s (“fertility, fruitfulness; happiness, felicity; good fortune; success”), from f?lix (“happy; blessed, fortunate, lucky; fertile, fruitful; prosperous; auspicious, favourable”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *d?eh?(y)- (“to nurse, suckle”)) + -it?s (a variant of -t?s (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??l?s?ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??l?s?ti/, [-?i]
• Rhymes: -?s?ti
• Hyphenation: fe?li?ci?ty

Noun

felicity (countable and uncountable, plural felicities)

1. (uncountable) Happiness; (countable) an instance of this.

   Antonym: infelicity
2. (uncountable) An apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.; (countable) an apt and pleasing choice of words.
3. (uncountable, rare) Good luck; success; (countable) An instance of unexpected good luck; a stroke of luck; also, a lucky characteristic.
4. (uncountable, semiotics) Reproduction of a sign with fidelity.

5. (countable) Something that is either a source of happiness or particularly apt.

Derived terms

• felicitous
• felicitously
• infelicity

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• felicity (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Middle English merth, myrthe, murhthe, from Old English mergþ, mirgþ, myrgþ (“mirth, joy”), from Proto-Germanic *murgiþ? (“briefness, brevity”); equivalent to merry +? -th.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /m???/, [m??]; enPR: mûrth
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /m???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)?

Noun

mirth (usually uncountable, plural mirths)

1. The emotion usually following humour and accompanied by laughter; merriment; jollity; gaiety.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

     And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that, though I did not see the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth.

   • 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl:

     Their eyes met and they began to laugh. They laughed as children do when they cannot contain themselves, and can not explain the cause of their mirth to grown people, but share it perfectly together.

2. That which causes merriment.
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     Phantasmal mirth, folded away: muskperfumed.

Synonyms

• (emotion): delight, glee, hilarity, jollity

Antonyms

• (emotion): sadness, gloom

Derived terms

Translations

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English myrgþ.

Noun

mirth

1. Alternative form of myrthe

Etymology 2

Derived from myrthe (noun).

Verb

mirth

1. Alternative form of myrthen