jolly

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See also: Jolly

English

Etymology

From Middle English joli, jolif (“merry, cheerful”), from Old French joli, jolif (“merry, joyful”) It is uncertain whether the Old French word is from Old Norse jól ("a midwinter feast, Yule", hence "fest-ive"), in which case, equivalent to yule +‎ -ive, compare Dutch jolig (“happy, festive, frolicsome, jolly”), West Frisian joelich, joalich (“merry, jolly”), Middle High German jœlich (“hooting, jubilant”); or ultimately from Latin gaudeō (see etymology at joy), which fails to explain the presence of l in jolif. For the loss of final -f compare tardy, hasty, hussy, etc.

Pronunciation

Adjective

jolly (comparative jollier, superlative jolliest)

  1. Full of merriment and high spirits; jovial; joyous; merry.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, , stanzas xi-xii:
      "Full jolly Knight he seemed […] full large of limb and every joint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point."
    • 1815, William Wordsworth, Hart-Leap Well, Part Second:
      "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! / But something ails it now: the spot is curst. ..."
    • 1819, Washington Irving, “The Stage Coach”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.:
      […] he is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors […]
  2. (colloquial, dated) Splendid, excellent, pleasant.
  3. (informal) Drunk.

Derived terms

Translations

jovial — see jovial

Noun

jolly (plural jollies)

  1. (UK, dated, often humorous) A pleasure trip or excursion.
  2. (slang, dated) A marine in the English navy.
    Synonym: joey
  3. (slang, archaic) A word of praise, or favourable notice.
    • 2021, Jenni Spangler, The Incredible Talking Machine:
      'We just need to chuck him a jolly.'
      'I beg your pardon?' said Faber.
      'Chuck a jolly... you know! Get people on the street talking about how amazing the show is! Tell them the tickets are sold out for the next two weeks.'

Derived terms

Adverb

jolly (comparative more jolly, superlative most jolly)

  1. (British, dated) very, extremely
    it’s jolly hot in here, isn’t it?
    • 1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26:
      Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

Verb

jolly (third-person singular simple present jollies, present participle jollying, simple past and past participle jollied)

  1. (transitive) To amuse or divert.
  2. (transitive, informal, archaic) To praise or talk up.
    • 1898, Marketing/Communications, volume 23, page 52:
      I do not believe in 'jollying' and 'soft soaping' a man when his work is really bad.

Derived terms

terms derived from all parts of speech

Translations

References

  1. ^ Etymology
  2. ^ Etymology
  • Jolly in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 15, p. 495.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English jolly joker, an older name for the joker card in a deck of cards.

Pronunciation

Noun

jolly m (invariable)

  1. (card games) joker
  2. wild card

See also

Playing cards in Italian · carte da gioco (layout · text)
asso due tre quattro cinque sei sette
otto nove dieci fante donna,
regina 		re jolly, joker,
matta
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia