different between happiness vs exaltation

English

Etymology

From happy +? -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hæpin?s/, /?hæpin?s/
• Hyphenation: hap?pi?ness

Noun

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

2. (uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy.
   • 1877, W. S. Gilbert, The Sorcerer

     Yes, Aline, true happiness comes of true love, and true love should be independent of external influences.

3. (archaic, uncountable) prosperity, thriving, wellbeing.
   • 1776, United States Declaration of Independence

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

4. (archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.
   • 1643, — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, I-i

     All happiness bechance to thee in Milan!

5. (obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; — used especially of language.

   Some beauties yet no precepts can declare, For there's a happiness, as well as care. — Alexander Pope.

Usage notes

Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment.

Synonyms

• felicity (somewhat dated or formal)
• blessedness (dated or religious)
• bliss (more exalted delight, suggesting heaven)
• high spirits
• joy, joyfulness, joyousness
• pleasure

Antonyms

• unhappiness
• haplessness
• suffering

Translations

References

• happiness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Further reading

• Happiness (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• happiness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From French exaltation, from Latin exalt?ti? (“exaltation, elevation”), from exalt? (“raise, elevate, exalt”), from ex (“from, out of”) + altus (“high”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???.?z?l.?te?.??n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

exaltation (countable and uncountable, plural exaltations)

1. The act of exalting or raising high; also, the state of being exalted; elevation.
2. The refinement or subtilization of a body, or the increasing of its virtue or principal property.
3. (astrology) That placement of a planet in the zodiac in which it is deemed to exert its strongest influence.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 483:

     He often stood there in a muse until dusk fell, and then darkness, while once in a while the moon, ‘in her exaltation’ as the astrologers say, rose to remind him that such worldly musings meant nothing to the hostile universe without.

4. (rare) The collective noun for larks.
   • 1989, Ronald K. Siegel, Intoxication: The Universal Drive for Mind-Altering Substances, Park Street Press (2009), ?ISBN, page 192:

     In a sense, the editorial cartoons were correct when they suggested that an exaltation of larks can fly under the influence into an aspect of vulturous behavior.

   • 2005, Lucille Bellucci, Journey from Shanghai, iUniverse (2005), ?ISBN, page 83:

     “I'd like to think of my father being lifted to God in an exaltation of larks.”

   • 2005, Linda Bird Francke, On the Road with Francis of Assisi: A Timeless Journey Through Umbria and Tuscany, and Beyond, Random House (2006), ?ISBN, page 232:

     It is said that an exaltation of larks, which had assembled on the roof of Francis's hut, suddenly—and inexplicably—took to the air just after sunset, wheeling and singing.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:exaltation.
5. (medicine, archaic) An abnormal sense of personal well-being, power, or importance, observed as a symptom in various forms of insanity.

Translations

French

Etymology

From Latin exalt?ti?.

Pronunciation

Noun

exaltation f (plural exaltations)

1. exaltation

Related terms

• exalter

Further reading

• “exaltation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).