different between mirth vs joviality

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

English

Etymology

From French jovialité

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æl?ti

Noun

joviality (countable and uncountable, plural jovialities)

1. The state of being jovial; jollity or conviviality.
   • 1651, Fulgenzio Micanzio, The Life of the Most Learned Father Paul, Of the Order of the Servie, translator not credited, London: Humphrey Moseley and Richard Marriot, p. 13,^[1]

     The Duke […] willingly interposed the pleasures of wit and facetiousnesse with the grave cares of his government, tempering wisely his troubles with Joviality of words and actions […]

   • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Chapter 5,^[2]

     I noticed that Mr. Pumblechook in his hospitality appeared to forget that he had made a present of the wine, but took the bottle from Mrs. Joe and had all the credit of handing it about in a gush of joviality.

   • 1881, Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper, Chapter 10,^[3]

     This remark sobered the father’s joviality, and brought his mind to business.

   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, Chapter 24, IV,^[4]

     By the joviality of their insults Babbitt knew that he had been taken back to their hearts, and happily he rose.

   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, 2001, Part Two, Chapter 6,

     Joviality fled from the table, Shekhar studied his cards. Owad frowned at his. His foot was tapping on the concrete floor. More watchers came.

   • 2014, Benjamin Poore, “Carry on campus: The satirical needling deflates the high-minded ideals of the groves of academy,” The Independent, 6 November, 2014,^[5]

     Success on social media tends to instil in the early career academics and postgraduates who achieve it, after merciless encouragement from outreach and impact gurus in HE management, a kind of unwavering, po-faced self-belief in their own genius and thus the vital urgency of their research, the overall effect being a strange mixture of corporate cynicism and uneasy joviality.

Translations