different between jovial vs witty

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French jovial (“jolly, jovial”), from Italian gioviale (“jolly, jovial; (obsolete) born under the influence of the planet Jupiter”), from Latin iovi?lis (“relating to the Roman god Jupiter”), from Iuppiter, Iovis (“the Roman god Jove or Jupiter, counterpart of the Greek god Zeus”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to be bright; heaven, sky”)) + -?lis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); analysable as Jove +? -ial.

Sense 1 (“cheerful and good-humoured”) refers to the fact that individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter were believed to have that disposition.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d???.v?.?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?o?.v?.?l/
• Hyphenation: jov?i?al

Adjective

jovial (comparative more jovial, superlative most jovial)

1. (comparable) Cheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:happy

   Antonyms: saturnine; see also Thesaurus:sad
2. (not comparable, astrology, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see sense 1).

Alternative forms

• joviall (obsolete)

Derived terms

• joviality
• jovially
• jovialness

Related terms

• Jove
• Jovial
• Jovian

Translations

References

Further reading

• Jupiter on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Jupiter (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• jovial (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• jovial in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• jovial in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• jovial at OneLook Dictionary Search

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian gioviale, from Latin iovi?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.vjal/
• Homophones: joviale, joviales

Adjective

jovial (feminine singular joviale, masculine plural joviaux, feminine plural joviales)

1. jovial, jolly

Descendants

• ? Czech: žoviální

Further reading

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

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French jovial, from Italian gioviale, from Latin iovi?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jo?via?l/

Adjective

jovial

1. jovial

Further reading

• “jovial” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German jovial, from Latin jovialis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju.vi.a?l/, [j?.??.?a?l]

Adjective

jovial (neuter singular jovialt, definite singular and plural joviale)

1. jovial

References

“jovial” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From German jovial, from Latin jovialis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju.vi.a?l/, [j?.??.?a?l]

Adjective

jovial (neuter singular jovialt, definite singular and plural joviale)

1. jovial

References

“jovial” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin iovi?lis.

Adjective

jovial m or f (plural joviais, comparable)

1. jovial; merry, cheerful

Romanian

Etymology

From French jovial

Adjective

jovial m or n (feminine singular jovial?, masculine plural joviali, feminine and neuter plural joviale)

1. jocose

Declension

Related terms

• jovialitate

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin iovi?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xo?bjal/, [xo???jal]

Adjective

jovial (plural joviales)

1. Jovian
2. cheerful, jovial

Derived terms

• jovialidad
• jovialmente

Further reading

• “jovial” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Middle English witty, witti, from Old English witti? (“clever, wise”), equivalent to wit +? -y,See Norwegian Bokmål vettig.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?ti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?ti/, [?w??i]
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

witty (comparative wittier, superlative wittiest)

1. (obsolete) Wise, having good judgement.

   • Then cam there a lady that was a wytty lady, and she seyde playnly unto the Kyng […] that he sholde never be hole but yf that Sir Trystrames wente into the same contrey than the venym came fro, and in that contrey sholde he be holpyn, other ellys never.

2. (archaic) Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.
3. Clever; amusingly ingenious.

4. Full of wit.

5. Quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits.

Synonyms

• facetious
• humorous
• jocose
• jocular
• quick
• lively
• See also Thesaurus:witty

Translations