merriment

Etymology

It is formed from English merry + -ment,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the OED and the Shorter Oxford taking the base as the adjective.^[2][3] Etymonline takes it instead from the obsolete verb merry, to be or make happy, from Old English myrgan.^[7] The adjective goes back to myrge (“pleasing, agreeable”), from Proto-Germanic *murgijaz.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Taking part in amusing and enjoyable activities; fun and gaiety: 1574, in Richard Robinson's Rewarde of Wickednesse.^[2][4] Etymonline gives the 1570s for "comic or mirthful entertainment" and the 1580s for the general sense, the state of being merry.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries a merriment could also be a thing that caused mirth: a joke or jest, or a short comic play (1576–1810, first in Abraham Fleming's translation of Cicero),^[2][3][4] and later a humorous or scurrilous publication (1697–1824, first in Richard Bentley's dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris).^[2][3] Shakespeare used it in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1600) for entertainment or sport.^[2] The OED marks the sense of a festivity as obsolete,^[2] but Merriam-Webster Unabridged still gives a festive celebration or party.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "mirth; gaiety; cheerfulness; laughter", quoting Spenser.^[6] In east Suffolk a merriment was a clown or a comical person quick with jokes.^[8]

Timeline

• 1574 – fun and gaiety, exuberant enjoyment.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the general sense to the 1580s.^[7]
• 1576 – a joke or jest; a brief comic entertainment (obsolete by 1810).^[2][3]
• 1600 – entertainment, sport, in Shakespeare.^[2]
• 1697 – a humorous or scurrilous publication (obsolete by 1824).^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lighthearted fun and enjoyment, with laughter; gaiety or hilarity: The best man's speech caused great merriment among the guests.^{[9][4][10][2]}
2. A festive celebration or party.^[4]
3. (obsolete) Something that causes mirth, such as a jest or a short comic entertainment (1576–1810).^[2][3][4]
4. (obsolete) A humorous or scurrilous publication (1697–1824).^[2][3]

Related words

• merry
• merrymaking
• merrily

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt