merry

English Online Dictionary. What means merry‎? What does merry mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɹi/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɹi/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɹɪ/, /ˈmɛɹe/
• (General American) enPR: mĕrʹē, IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɹi/, /ˈmeɪɹi/
• (Philadelphia, merry–Murray merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌɹi/
• Homophone: Merry
• Homophones: Mary, marry (both only in accents with Mary–marry–merry merger); Murray (merry–Murray merger)
• Hyphenation: mer‧ry
• Rhymes: -ɛɹi

Etymology 1

From Middle English mery, merie, mirie, myrie, murie, murȝe, from Old English meriġe, miriġe, myriġe, myreġe, myrġe (“pleasing, agreeable; pleasant, sweet, delightful; melodious”), from Proto-West Germanic *murgī (“short, slow, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *murguz (“short, slow”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short”). Cognate with Scots mery, mirry (“merry”), Middle Dutch mergelijc (“pleasant, agreeable, joyful”), Norwegian dialectal myrjel (“small object, figurine”), Latin brevis (“short, small, narrow, shallow”), Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”). Doublet of brief.

Alternative forms

• merie, merrie, mery (obsolete)

Adjective

merry (comparative merrier, superlative merriest)

1. Jolly and full of high spirits; happy.
2. Festive and full of fun and laughter.
3. Brisk

4. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight.
5. (euphemistic) drunk; tipsy

Synonyms

• (jolly): cheerful, content, ecstatic, exultant, gay, happy, jovial, joyful, pleased; see also Thesaurus:happy
• (festive): convivial, gay, jovial
• (brisk): energetic, lively, spirited; see also Thesaurus:active
• (causing laughter): delightful, gladful
• (drunk): lushy, muzzy, squiffy; see also Thesaurus:drunk

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “jolly”): miserable, unhappy

Derived terms

Related terms

• mirth

Translations

Etymology 2

From French merise.

Noun

merry (plural merries)

1. An English wild cherry.

See also

Anagrams

• Rymer