Word of the Day

: February 9, 2016

jocund

adjective JAH-kund

What It Means

: marked by or suggestive of high spirits and lively mirthfulness

jocund in Context

Clayton gave a jocund shout when he entered the room and saw the many friends who had come for his surprise 50th birthday celebration.

"The jocund nature of Beethoven's Second Symphony is in utter contradiction with Beethoven's pathetic letter expressing the despair of inevitable deafness, both written at approximately the same time." — D. S. Crafts, The Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal, 13 Jan. 2012

Did You Know?

Don't let the etymology of jocund play tricks on you. The word comes from jucundus, a Latin word meaning "agreeable" or "delightful," and ultimately from the Latin verb juvare, meaning "to help." But jucundus looks and sounds a bit like jocus, the Latin word for "joke." These two roots took a lively romp through many centuries together and along the way the lighthearted jocus influenced the spelling and meaning of jucundus, an interaction that eventually produced our Modern English word jocund in the 14th century.