hilarity

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French hilarité,^[2][3][4][5] recorded in French from the 14th–15th century,^[2] or directly borrowed from Latin hilaritās (“cheerfulness, gaiety, merriment”),^[6][7][8] formed from hilaris, also hilarus (“cheerful, merry”), and the suffix -itās,^[3][6][2] from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, merry, joyous”).^[7][6][9][4] The Greek adjective is related to ἵλαος (hílaos, “gracious, kindly”) and ἱλάσκομαι (hiláskomai, “to propitiate, appease”),^[7][6] and Etymonline derives it probably from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *selh- (“to reconcile”), also the source of Latin sōlor (“to comfort”).^[7] In ancient Rome the Latin Hilaria, from the neuter plural of the adjective, were holidays of rejoicing.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

High spirits: in the form hillarite, about 1440, in a translation of Palladius, rendering Latin hilaritas.^[8][6] The OED's first record, for cheerfulness or calm joy, is from 1568, in G. Skeyne's description of the plague.^[2]

Semantic evolution

For three centuries the word meant cheerfulness or a calm gladness:^[2][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as merriment and gaiety, quoting Brown's Vulgar Errours on Averroes, who "restrained his hilarity" over wine.^[11] The stronger sense, boisterous joy and loud merriment, is recorded from 1834, in De Quincey,^[2] or the 19th century in Hoad,^[10] and is now the usual one.^[12][3] The adjective hilarious, first in Scott in 1823, was formed from the Latin adjective at about the same time.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – high spirits, as hillarite.^[8][6]
• 1568 – cheerfulness, calm joy.^[2]
• 1834 – boisterous joy, merriment.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Loud, unrestrained merriment or laughter: The best man's speech caused great hilarity.^[12][3][2]
2. Cheerfulness; calm good spirits.^[3][2][12]

Related words

• hilarious
• exhilarate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins