alacrity

English

WOTD – 2 May 2009

Etymology

Coined between 1500 and 1510 from Latin alacritās, from alacer (“brisk”) + -itas (“-ity”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ə-lă'crĭ-tē, IPA^(key): [əˈlækɹɨti]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

alacrity (countable and uncountable, plural alacrities)

1. Eagerness; liveliness; enthusiasm.

   Synonyms: avidity, eagerness, enthusiasm, willingness

   Antonyms: apathy, disinclination, hesitance, indifference, reluctance

   • 1553 (posth.), Thomas More, A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, Book I, Chapter 19:

     Besides, a wealthy man, well at ease, may pray to God quietly and merrily with alacrity and great quietness of mind, whereas he who lieth groaning in his grief cannot endure to pray nor can he hardly think upon anything but his pain.

   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, sc. 3:

     I have not that alacrity of spirit

     Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have.

   • 1837, Charles Dickens, chapter 12, in The Pickwick Papers:

     "I'll get into the clothes this minute, if they're here," said Sam, with great alacrity.

   • 1920, Edward Arlington Robinson, The Three Taverns, "Tasker Norcross":

     You have an overgrown alacrity

     For saying nothing much and hearing less […]

   • 1922, Edith Wharton, chapter 24, in The Glimpses of the Moon:

     This evening, however, he was struck by the beaming alacrity of the aide-de-camp's greeting.

2. Promptness; speed.

   Synonyms: briskness, celerity, haste, promptness, quickness, swiftness

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience":

     Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 205, column 2:

     He had a uniform jacket with one button off, and seeing a white man on the path, hoisted his weapon to his shoulder with alacrity.

Related terms

• alacritous
• allegretto
• allegro

 

Translations

eagerness

• Armenian: պատրաստակամություն (hy) (patrastakamutʻyun), աշխուժություն (hy) (ašxužutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: готовност (bg) (gotovnost), усърдие (bg) (usǎrdie)
• Czech: čilost f
• Dutch: bereidwilligheid (nl)
• Finnish: into (fi)
• French: alacrité (fr) f, empressement (fr) m
• Galician: alacridade (gl) f
• German: Eifer (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingua: alacritate
• Interlingue:
• Italian: alacrità (it) f, solerzia f
• Latin: alacritas f
• Polish: skwapliwość f
• Portuguese: alacridade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f, ânimo (pt) m
• Russian: гото́вность (ru) f (gotóvnostʹ), жи́вость (ru) f (žívostʹ), рве́ние (ru) n (rvénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: sunnd f, sùrd m
• Spanish: alacridad (es)
• Tamil: ஆர்வம் (ta) (ārvam)

promptness

• Bulgarian: живост (bg) (živost), пъргавост (bg) (pǎrgavost)
• Czech: hbitost f
• Dutch: vlugheid (nl)
• Finnish: ripeys (fi)
• French: rapidité (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: alacridade (gl) f
• Interlingue: ,
• Russian: расторо́пность (ru) f (rastorópnostʹ), прово́рство (ru) n (provórstvo)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgiobaltachd f
• Spanish: alacridad (es) f, presteza (es) f, prontitud (es)