mirth

English

Etymology

From Middle English merth, myrthe, murhthe, from Old English mergþ, mirgþ, myrgþ (“mirth, joy”), from Proto-Germanic *murgiþō (“briefness, brevity”); equivalent to merry +‎ -th.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɜɹθ/, [mɝθ]; enPR: mûrth
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɜːθ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ

Noun

mirth (usually uncountable, plural mirths)

1. The emotion usually following humour and accompanied by laughter; merriment; jollity; gaiety.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

     And he began to laugh again, and that so heartily, that, though I did not see the joke as he did, I was again obliged to join him in his mirth.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎^[1]:

     She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

   • 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl:

     Their eyes met and they began to laugh. They laughed as children do when they cannot contain themselves, and can not explain the cause of their mirth to grown people, but share it perfectly together.

2. That which causes merriment.
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     Phantasmal mirth, folded away: muskperfumed.

Synonyms

• (emotion): delight, glee, hilarity, jollity

Antonyms

• (emotion): sadness, gloom

Derived terms

Derived terms

• mirthful
• mirthfully
• mirthfulness

• mirthless
• mirthlessly
• mirthlessness
• mirthy

Translations

merriment

• Bulgarian: веселие (bg) n (veselie), радост (bg) f (radost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 歡笑 (zh), 欢笑 (zh) (huānxiào), 愉快 (zh) (yúkuài), 高興 (zh), 高兴 (zh) (gāoxìng)

• Dutch: vrolijkheid (nl)
• Finnish: ilo (fi), hilpeys (fi)
• French: gaieté (fr) f
• Georgian: მხიარულება (mxiaruleba), სიმხიარულე (simxiarule), სიხარული (sixaruli)
• German: Fröhlichkeit (de) f, Belustigung (de) f, Freude (de) f
• Greek: ευθυμία (el) f (efthymía), κέφι (el) f (kéfi)

  Ancient: εὐφροσύνη f (euphrosúnē)

• Italian: gioia (it) f, allegria (it) f
• Japanese: 笑い (ja) (わらい, warai) (laugh), 遊び (ja) (あそび, asobi) (play), 喜び (ja) (よろこび, yorokobi) (joy), 歓楽 (ja) (kanraku)
• Plautdietsch: Freid f
• Portuguese: alegria (pt) f, júbilo (pt) m
• Russian: ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ), весе́лье (ru) n (vesélʹje)
• Scottish Gaelic: sogan m
• Spanish: felicidad (es) f, alegría (es) f, júbilo (es)
• Swedish: munterhet (sv) c, glädje (sv) c

that which causes merriment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: ilo (fi), ilonaihe
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English myrgþ.

Noun

mirth

1. Alternative form of myrthe

Etymology 2

Derived from myrthe (noun).

Verb

mirth

1. Alternative form of myrthen