mirth

English

Etymology

Old English myrġþ, approximately equivalent to merry +‎ -th.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mɜːθ

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ

Noun

mirth (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.

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

• mirthful
• mirthfulness
• mirthless
• mirthlessly
• mirthlessness

Translations

merriment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: vrolijkheid (nl)
• Finnish: ilo (fi), hilpeys (fi)
• French: gaieté (fr)
• German: Fröhlichkeit (de) f, Belustigung (de) f, Freude (de) f

• Italian: gioia (it) f
• Russian: радость (ru) (radostʹ) f
• Scottish Gaelic: sogan (gd) m
• Spanish: felicidad (es) f, alegría (es) f
• Swedish: munterhet (sv) c, glädje (sv) c