English Online Dictionary. What means happy? What does happy mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English happy (“fortunate, happy”), perhaps an alteration of Middle English happyn, happen (“fortunate, happy”), possibly related to or from Old Norse heppinn (“fortunate, happy”); and potentially assimilated to be equivalent to hap (“chance, luck, fortune”) + -y. Compare also Icelandic heppinn (“lucky”), Faroese heppin (“fortunate, lucky, happy”), Norwegian Nynorsk heppen (“lucky”), Scots happin (“fortunate, blessed”). See further at hap.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhæpi/
- Hyphenation: hap‧py
- Rhymes: -æpi
Adjective
happy (comparative happier or more happy, superlative happiest or most happy)
- Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous.
- Synonyms: cheerful, content, delighted, elated, exultant, glad, joyful, jubilant, merry; see also Thesaurus:happy
- Antonyms: blue, depressed, down, miserable, moody, morose, sad, unhappy; see also Thesaurus:sad
- Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky, propitious.
- Synonyms: fortunate, lucky, propitious; see also Thesaurus:lucky
- Antonyms: unfortunate, unlucky, unpropitious
- (archaic) Elect or saved after death, blessed.
- Content, willing, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).
- Synonym: pleased
- Antonyms: disenchanted, dissatisfied
- (Of acts, speech, etc.) Appropriate, apt, felicitous.
- Antonyms: inappropriate, inapt, unfelicitous
- (in combination) Favoring or inclined to use.
- (rare, of people, often followed by "at" or "in") Dexterous, ready, skilful.
- Implying “May you have a happy ⁓” or similar; used in phrases to wish someone happiness or good fortune at the time of a festival, celebration, or other event or activity.
Usage notes
- (contented, joyous): Said of people, hours, times, thoughts, etc.
- (fortunate, lucky): Said of efforts, expedients, omens, ventures, etc.
Alternative forms
- happie (obsolete)
Derived terms
Descendants
- → German: happy
- → Welsh: hapus (calque)
- → Japanese: ハッピー (happī)
Translations
Noun
happy (plural happies)
- (informal, rare) A happy event, thing, person, etc.
Verb
happy (third-person singular simple present happies, present participle happying, simple past and past participle happied)
- (intransitive, informal) Often followed by up: to become happy; to brighten up, to cheer up.
- Synonyms: blithen, cheer up, chirk, liven up, perk up
- (transitive, informal) Often followed by up: to make happy; to brighten, to cheer, to enliven.
- Synonyms: bright, cheer up, happify, perk up; see also Thesaurus:gladden
Further reading
- Happy (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Chinese
Etymology
From English happy.
Pronunciation 1
Verb
happy
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) to amuse oneself
- (by extension in Hong Kong Cantonese, neologism elsewhere, euphemistic) to party; to make love
Adjective
happy
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) happy
Adverb
happy
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) happily
Pronunciation 2
Adjective
happy
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) happy; delightful; delighted
Adverb
happy
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) happily; delightfully; delightedly
References
- Bauer, Robert S. (2021) ABC Cantonese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page 434
German
Etymology
Borrowed from English happy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhɛpi/
Adjective
happy (strong nominative masculine singular happyer, comparative happyer, superlative am happysten)
- (colloquial, chiefly predicative) glad; satisfied; momentarily happy
Usage notes
- The German word is used as a synonym of froh (“glad, momentarily happy”) rather than glücklich (“happy, both momentarily and generally in life”).
- On the rare occasion that this adjective is used attributively, the positive form happy typically remains undeclined, whereas the comparison forms are declined in the normal fashion.
Middle English
Alternative forms
- happi
Etymology
hap + -y
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhapiː/
Adjective
happy
- fortunate, prosperous, lucky; blessed
Descendants
- English: happy (see there for further descendants)
- Yola: happie
References
- “happī, adj. & adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.