Etymologically
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jolly

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈd͡ʒɒli/[1]
  • US: /ˈd͡ʒɑli/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English jolif, also joli,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French jolif, also joli, festive, merry, amorous, finely dressed, pretty,[2][6][7] now joli (“pretty”).[7][8][9] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1136, meaning joyful, merry, frivolous or wanton.[10] The OED compares Italian giulivo (“merry, pleasant”) and Catalan joliu.[2][7] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com analyse the French word as jol- and the suffix -if (as in -ive),[5][11] and Klein compares the formation of aisif (“easy”) from aise (“ease”).[4] Its further origin is uncertain.[7] Many dictionaries derive it, probably or perhaps, from Old Norse jól (“midwinter feast, Yule”), the cognate of yule,[5][4][11][12][13][14][15][9][6][8] but the OED of 1989 thought this extremely doubtful for historical and phonetic reasons.[7] Murray in the OED and Skeat therefore also mentioned a Latin source, Vulgar Latin *gaudivus, from gaudeō (“to rejoice”), the source of joy;[6][7] Barnhart finds this more plausible in meaning but not a satisfactory solution either.[6] The early loss of the -f is like that in tardy and hasty.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merry, cheerful: Barnhart finds jolif probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin,[6] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300 and to the late 13th century as a surname,[7] and the OED's first record is from about 1305, for "in high spirits", in a life of St Swithin.[2]

Semantic evolution

Middle English used the word in many senses that are now lost: vigorous and youthful, amorous or lustful, handsome or finely dressed, playful, and arrogant or overbold.[7][2] Chaucer used it more than forty times, mostly as joly and jolyf,[16] and the Middle English adverb meant stoutly, boldly.[7][3] Ayto notes that while French joli came to mean "pretty", English kept closer to the old sense "merry".[8] The meaning "fine, remarkable", from the 1540s, gave the word its use as an intensifier,[7] and the adverb "very" is recorded from 1549.[5][6] From 1652 jolly also meant slightly drunk.[2][17][7] Johnson (1755) defined it as gay, merry, cheerful, lively and jovial.[18] The verb, to make merry, appeared in 1610;[2][5] its slang uses, to tease or chaff (1874) and to keep someone in good humour, jolly along (1890, first in American English), came in the late 19th century.[2][6][14] As a noun, jolly has been sailors' slang for a Royal Marine since 1829, in Marryat,[2][5] and short for jolly boat since the same year;[2] in the 20th century it also became short for jollification, a festive outing.[2][14]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – jolif, merry, in Arthour and Merlin.[6]
  • c. 1303 – joly, amorous, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.[6]
  • c. 1305 – in high spirits, joyful.[2]
  • c. 1330 – gallant, brave (obsolete by 1642).[2]
  • c. 1384 – amorous, lustful (obsolete by 1645).[2]
  • 1484 – festive, fond of merriment.[2]
  • 1549 – adverb, very.[5][6]
  • 1610 – verb, to make merry.[2][5]
  • 1652 – slightly drunk.[2][17]
  • 1829 – noun, a Royal Marine; a jolly boat.[2]
  • 1874 – verb, to tease.[2]
  • 1890 – verb, to keep someone in good humour.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Cheerful and good-humoured; merry: a jolly old innkeeper.[12][5][14]
  2. Full of merriment and good company; festive or jovial.[12][5][2]
  3. Very pleasant or enjoyable.[12]
  4. (euphemistic) Slightly drunk.[2][14]
  5. (obsolete) Gallant, brave; also overconfident or arrogant.[2][14]
  6. (obsolete) Amorous; lustful.[2][14]

Adverb

  1. (British, informal) Very, used as an intensifier: That was jolly kind of you.[12][5]

Verb

  1. To try to keep someone cheerful, especially to get something from them, usually with along or up.[12][5][14][2]
  2. To tease or banter good-naturedly.[12][5][14][2]

Noun

  1. (chiefly British, informal) A party or outing, especially a trip taken at public expense by officials.[12][5]
  2. jollies (plural): kicks, thrills.[5]
  3. (British slang) A Royal Marine.[5][2][14]

Word family

  • jollily
  • jolliness
  • jollification
  • unjolly
  • jollify
  • jollity
  • Jolly Roger
  • yule
  • joy
  • jolly boat

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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)
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  17. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  18. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.