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joy

Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɔɪ/

The English word “joy” has 9 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A feeling of extreme happiness or cheerfulness, especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good.
  2. Anything that causes such a feeling.
  3. Luck or success; a positive outcome.
  4. The sign or exhibition of joy; gaiety; merriment; festivity.

interjection

  1. Expressing appreciation and happiness.

verb

  1. To feel joy, to rejoice.
  2. To enjoy.
  3. To give joy to; to congratulate.
  4. To gladden; to make joyful; to exhilarate.

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English joye, borrowed from Old French joie, from Late Latin gaudia, neuter plural (mistaken as feminine singular) of Latin gaudium (“joy”), from gaudēre (“to be glad, rejoice”). Doublet of jo and gaudy (“Oxford college reunion”). Displaced native Old English ġefēa. The interjection is from the noun. The verb is from Middle English joyen, joȝen, joien, from Old French…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.