happy

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”), 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)

1. 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

   • 1731, Thomas Bayes, Divine Benevolence: or, An Attempt to Prove that the Principal End of the Divine Providence and Government is the Happiness of His Creatures: Being an Answer to a Pamphlet, Entitled, Divine Rectitude; or, An Inquiry Concerning the Moral Perfections of the Deity. With a Refutation of the Notions therein Advanced Concerning Beauty and Order, the Reason of Punishment, and the Necessity of a State of Trial antecedent to Perfect Happiness, London: Printed for John Noon, at the White-Hart in Cheapside, near Mercers-Chapel, OCLC 642498368; quoted in Andrew I. Dale, Most Honourable Remembrance: The Life and Work of Thomas Bayes (Studies and Sources in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences), New York, N.Y.: Springer, 2003, ISBN 978-0-387-00499-0, page 138:

     […] For the most happy universe is not one that consists of the greatest possible number of the most happy beings only; but one that consists of that, and the greatest possible number of beings next inferior to the first rank, and so downward, till we come to those that approach the nearest to insensible matter.
2. 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

   1. (archaic) Elect or saved after death, blessed.
3. Content, willing, satisfied (with or to do something); having no objection (to something).

   Synonym: pleased

   Antonyms: disenchanted, dissatisfied
4. (Of acts, speech, etc.) Appropriate, apt, felicitous.

   Antonyms: inappropriate, inapt, unfelicitous
5. (in combination) Favoring or inclined to use.
6. (rare, of people, often followed by "at" or "in") Dexterous, ready, skilful.
7. 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.

   Happy birthday!, Happy Fourth of July!, Happy anniversary!, Happy job-hunting!

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

Translations

Noun

happy (plural happies)

1. (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)

1. (intransitive, informal) Often followed by up: to become happy; to brighten up, to cheer up.

   Synonyms: blithen, cheer up, chirk, liven up, perk up
2. (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

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to amuse oneself
2. (by extension in Hong Kong Cantonese, neologism elsewhere, euphemistic) to party; to make love

Adjective

happy

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) happy

Adverb

happy

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) happily

Pronunciation 2

Adjective

happy

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) happy; delightful; delighted

Adverb

happy

1. (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)

1. (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

1. fortunate, prosperous, lucky; blessed

Descendants

• English: happy
• Yola: happie

References

• “happī, adj. & adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.