happiness

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From happy +‎ -ness.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ˈhæpinɪs/, /ˈhæpinəs/
Audio (US)
(file)
Hyphenation: hap‧pi‧ness

NounEdit

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

(uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy.
- 1877, W. S. Gilbert, The Sorcerer
  Yes, Aline, true happiness comes of true love, and true love should be independent of external influences.
(archaic, uncountable) prosperity, thriving, wellbeing.
- 1776, United States Declaration of Independence
  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
(archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.
- 1643, — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, I-i
  All happiness bechance to thee in Milan!
(obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace; — used especially of language.
Some beauties yet no precepts can declare, For there's a happiness, as well as care. — Alexander Pope.

Usage notesEdit

Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment.

SynonymsEdit

felicity (somewhat dated or formal)
blessedness (dated or religious)
bliss (more exalted delight, suggesting heaven)
high spirits
joy, joyfulness, joyousness
pleasure

AntonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

emotion of being happy

Afrikaans: geluk (af)
Albanian: lumturi (sq) f
Arabic: سَعَادَة‎ f (saʿāda)
Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʿyun)
Asturian: felicidá f
Azerbaijani: xoşbəxtlik, səadət
Bashkir: бәхет (bäxet)
Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje)
Bengali: সুখ (śukh)
Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie)
Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.)
Catalan: felicitat (ca) f
Chinese:
Literary: 福 (fú), 礽 (réng), 祉 (zhǐ)

Mandarin: 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 快樂 (zh), 快乐 (zh) (kuàilè), 愉快 (zh) (yúkuài)
Czech: štěstí (cs) n
Danish: lykke (da) c, glæde c
Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n, vreugde (nl) f
Esperanto: feliĉeco
Estonian: õnn (et)
Faroese: gleði f
Finnish: onnellisuus (fi)
French: bonheur (fr) m
Galician: felicidade (gl) f
Georgian: ბედნიერება (bedniereba)
German: Glück (de) n, Glücklichkeit (de) f
Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía)
Ancient: εὐδαιμονία f (eudaimonía)
Hawaiian: hauʻoli
Hebrew: אושר \ אֹשֶׁר‎ (he) m ('ósher)
Hindi: ख़ुशी f (xuśī)
Hungarian: boldogság (hu)
Hunsrik: Glick n
Icelandic: gleði (is) f, hamingja (is) f
Ido: feliceso (io)
Indonesian: kebahagiaan (id)
Ingush: ираз (iraz)
Irish: sonas m, suáilceas m
Italian: felicità (it) f, gioia (it) f
Japanese: 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 幸せ (ja) (しあわせ, shiawase), 愉快 (ja) (ゆかい, yukai)
Kazakh: бақыт (baqıt)
Khmer: សុភមង្គល (km) (sophĕəʼ mŭəngkŭəl), កាមសុខ (km) (kaamĕəʼsok), បរមសុខ (paʼraʼmaʼsok), បាមោជ្ជ (km) (paamaoccĕəʼ), បីតិ (km) (pəyteʼ), ប្រមោទ (km) (prɑmaot), ប្រីតា (km) (prəytaa)
Korean: 행복 (ko) (haengbok) (幸福 (ko))
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: bextewerî (ku), seadet (ku)
Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (bakıt)
Lao: ຄວາມສຸກ (lo) (khuām suk)
Latgalian: laime
Latin: laetitia f, gaudium n, felicitas f
Latvian: laime f
Lithuanian: laimė (lt)
Luxembourgish: Gléck n
Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
Malay: kebahagiaan, kegembiraan

Malayalam: ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṃ), സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṃ), ആഹ്ളാദം (āhḷādaṃ)
Maltese: feliċita f
Maori: uruhautanga, hurō
Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa
Middle English: wynne
Mongolian: аз жаргал (az jargal)
Navajo: ił hózhǫ́
Northern Sami: illu
Norwegian: lykke (no) m, glede (no) m
Nynorsk: lukke
Occitan: felicitat (oc) f, bonaür (oc)
Old East Slavic: съчастиѥ n (sŭčastije)
Old English: sǣlþ f
Old Norse: gleði f
Pashto: خوشبختي‎ (ps) f (xošbaxtí), سعادت‎ (ps) m (sa'ādát)
Persian: خوشبختی‎ (fa) (xošbaxti), شادی‎ (fa) (šâdi), سعادت‎ (fa) (sa'âdat)
Plautdietsch: Freid f, Häaj f
Polish: szczęście (pl) n, radość (pl) f
Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
Quechua: kusi
Romani: baxt f
Romanian: bucurie (ro) f, fericire (ro) f
Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
Sanskrit: सुख (sa) n (sukhá)
Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сре̏ћа f

Roman: srȅća (sh) f
Shor: ырыс (ırıs)
Sinhalese: සන්තෝෂය (santōṣaya)
Slovak: šťastie n, radosť f
Slovene: sreča (sl) f
Spanish: felicidad (es) f
Swahili: raha (sw)
Swedish: lycka (sv) c, glädje (sv) c, fröjd (sv) c
Tagalog: kaligayahan, ligaya (tl)
Tajik: бахт (baxt), саодат (saodat), шодӣ (tg) (šodī), хушбахтӣ (tg) (xušbaxtī)
Tamil: மகிழ்ச்சி (ta) (makiḻcci), சந்தோஷம் (ta) (cantōṣam)
Tatar: бәхет (tt) (bäxet), сәгадәть (säğadät’), сәгадәт (tt) (säğadät)
Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṃ)
Thai: ความสุข (th) (kwaam-sùk)
Tibetan: བདེ་བ (bde ba)
Turkish: mutluluk (tr), saadet (tr)
Turkmen: bagt (tk), şatlyk, eýgilik
Tuvan: аас-кежик (aas-kejik)
Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)
Urdu: خوشی‎ f (xuśī), سعادت‎ (ur) f (sa'ādat)
Uyghur: بەخت‎ (bext), خۇشاللىق‎ (xushalliq), سائادەت‎ (sa'adet)
Uzbek: baxt (uz), chogʻlik (uz), xushbaxtlik (uz), saodat (uz)
Venetian: ałegrézsa f, ałegrìa f
Vietnamese: hạnh phúc (vi) (幸福)
Walloon: bouneur (wa) m
Welsh: hapusrwydd (cy)
Yiddish: גליק‎ n (glik)

good luck

Bulgarian: късмет (bg) m (kǎsmet)
Czech: štěstí (cs) n
Dutch: geluk (nl) n, fortuin (nl)
Finnish: onni (fi)
Greek: ευημερία (el) f (evimería), προκοπή (el) f (prokopí), ευπραγία (el) f (efpragía)
Hungarian: szerencse (hu)
Icelandic: lukka f
Italian: gioia (it) f, felicità (it) f
Japanese: 幸運 (ja) (kōun)

Latvian: laime f
Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), коб f (kob)
Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṃ)
Norwegian: hell (no) n
Polish: szczęście (pl) n
Portuguese: fortuna (pt) f
Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča), везе́ние (ru) n (vezénije), фортуна (ru) f (fortuna)
Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
Slovak: šťastie
Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), уда́ча f (udáča), везі́ння n (vezínnja)

agreeable feeling

Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n
Finnish: onnellisuus (fi)
Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía), χαρά (el) f (chará)
Italian: felicità (it) f, allegria (it) f
Latvian: laime f
Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост f (radost)
Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṃ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṃ)

Maori: hurō
Polish: szczęście (pl) n
Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṃ)
Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)

fortuitous elegance

Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa)

Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ^{(please verify)} سَعَادَة‎ f (saʿāda)
Bengali: ^{(please verify)} সুখ (śukh)
Cebuano: ^{(please verify)} kalipay
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} feliĉo
French: ^{(please verify)} bonheur (fr) m
German: ^{(please verify)} Fröhlichkeit (de) f, ^{(please verify)} Glück (de) n
Kannada: ^{(please verify)} ಸುಖ (kn) (sukha), ^{(please verify)} ಸಂತೋಷ (kn) (santōṣa)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 행복 (ko) (haengbok)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} خۆشی‎ (ku) (xoşî)
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} glede (no) m, ^{(please verify)} lykke (no) m
Old English: ^{(please verify)} ēad n

Persian: ^{(please verify)} خوشبختی‎ (fa) (xošbaxti)
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} àigh m, ^{(please verify)} sonas m, ^{(please verify)} subhachas m, ^{(please verify)} toileachas m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} срећа f

Roman: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} sreća (sh) f, ^{(please verify)} срећа f
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} sreča (sl) f
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} glädje (sv), ^{(please verify)} lycka (sv)
Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} hạnh phúc (vi), ^{(please verify)} phúc (vi)

ReferencesEdit

happiness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.