JOY DEFINITIONS - 16 definitions found
joy n 1: the emotion of great happiness [syn: joy, joyousness, joyfulness] [ant: sorrow] 2: something or someone that provides a source of happiness; "a joy to behold"; "the pleasure of his company"; "the new car is a delight" [syn: joy, delight, pleasure] v 1: feel happiness or joy [syn: rejoice, joy] 2: make glad or happy [syn: gladden, joy] [ant: sadden] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) joy I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gēthein to rejoice Date: 13th century 1. a. the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires ; delight b. the expression or exhibition of such emotion ; gaiety 2. a state of happiness or felicity ; bliss 3. a source or cause of delight • joyless adjective • joylessly adverb • joylessness noun II. verb Date: 14th century intransitive verb to experience great pleasure or delight ; rejoice transitive verb 1. archaic gladden 2. archaic enjoy Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary joy (joys) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Joy is a feeling of great happiness. Salter shouted with joy. ...tears of joy. N-UNCOUNT 2. A joy is something or someone that makes you feel happy or gives you great pleasure. One can never learn all there is to know about cooking, and that is one of the joys of being a chef... = delight N-COUNT: with supp 3. If you get no joy, you do not have success or luck in achieving what you are trying to do. (BRIT INFORMAL) They expect no joy from the vote itself... N-UNCOUNT: with brd-neg 4. If you say that someone is jumping for joy, you mean that they are very pleased or happy about something. He jumped for joy on being told the news. PHRASE: V inflects 5. one's pride and joy: see pride English Explanatory Dictionary joy dʒɔɪ n. & v. --n. 1 (often foll. by at, in) a vivid emotion of pleasure; extreme gladness. 2 a thing that causes joy. 3 Brit. colloq. satisfaction, success (got no joy). --v. esp. poet. 1 intr. rejoice. 2 tr. gladden. øjoy-bells bells rung on festive occasions. wish a person joy of iron. be gladly rid of (what that person has to deal with). øøjoyless adj. joylessly adv. [ME f. OF joie ult. f. L gaudium f. gaudere rejoice] JOY What though my wingèd hours of bliss have been, Like angel-visits, few and far between. Pleasures of Hope, Pt. II. T. CAMBPELL How fading are the joys we dote upon! Like apparitions seen and gone; But those which soonest take their flight Are the most exquisite and strong; Like angels' visits, short and bright, Mortality's too weak to bear them long. The Parting. J. NORRIS. And these are joys, like beauty, but skin deep. Festus, Sc. A Village Feast. P.J. BAILEY. Joys too exquisite to last, And yet more exquisite when past. The Little Cloud. J. MONTGOMERY. The joy late coming late departs. Some Sweet Day. L.J. BATES. There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away. Song: There's Not a Joy. LORD BYRON. Base Envy withers at another's joy, And hates that excellence it cannot reach. The Seasons: Spring. J. THOMSON. How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown; Within whose circuit is Elysium And all that poets feign of bliss and joy. King Henry VI., Pt. III. Act i. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE. Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy. The Course of Time, Bk. I. R. POLLOK. O stay!--O stay!-- Joy so seldom weaves a chain Like this to-night, that, oh! 'tis pain To break its links so soon. Fly Not Yet. T. MOORE. Handy Dictionary of Poetical Quotations Joy Capacity for joy Admits temptation. MRS. BROWNING: Aurora Leigh, Bk. i., Line 703. Joy is the mainspring in the whole Of endless Nature's calm rotation. Joy moves the dazzling wheels that roll In the great Time-piece of Creation. SCHILLER: Hymn to Joy Joys too exquisite to last, And yet more exquisite when past. JAMES MONTGOMERY: The Little Cloud. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Joy \Joy\, n. [OE. joye, OF. joye, joie, goie, F. joie, L. gaudia, pl. of gaudium joy, fr. gaudere to rejoice, to be glad; cf. Gr. ? to rejoice, ? proud. Cf. Gaud, Jewel.] 1. The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exhilaration of spirits; delight. Her heavenly form beheld, all wished her joy. --Dryden. Glides the smooth current of domestic joy. --Johnson. Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. --Heb. xii. 2. Tears of true joy for his return. --Shak. Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or assured approaching possession of a good. --Locke. 2. That which causes joy or happiness. For ye are our glory and joy. --1 Thess. ii. 20. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. --Keats. 3. The sign or exhibition of joy; gayety; mirth; merriment; festivity. Such joy made Una, when her knight she found. --Spenser. The roofs with joy resound. --Dryden. Note: Joy is used in composition, esp. with participles, to from many self-explaining compounds; as, joy-hells, joy-ringing, joy-inspiring, joy-resounding, etc. Syn: Gladness; pleasure; delight; happiness; exultation; transport; felicity; ecstasy; rapture; bliss; gayety; mirth; merriment; festivity; hilarity. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Joy \Joy\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Joyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Joying.] [OF. joir, F. jouir. See Joy, n.] To rejoice; to be glad; to delight; to exult. I will joy in the God of my salvation. --Hab. iii. 18. In whose sight all things joy. --Milton. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Joy \Joy\, v. t. 1. To give joy to; to congratulate. [Obs.] ``Joy us of our conquest.'' --Dryden. To joy the friend, or grapple with the foe. --Prior. 2. To gladden; to make joyful; to exhilarate. [Obs.] Neither pleasure's art can joy my spirits. --Shak. 3. To enjoy. [Obs.] See Enjoy. Who might have lived and joyed immortal bliss. --Milton. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia JOY joi (simchah; chara): 1. Terms: The idea of joy is expressed in the Old Testament by a wealth of synonymous terms that cannot easily be differentiated. The commonest is simchah (1Sa 18:6, etc.), variously translated in English Versions of the Bible "joy," "gladness," "mirth"; from sameah, properly "to be bright," "to shine" (Pr 13:9, "The light of the righteous rejoiceth," literally, "is bright"), but generally used figuratively "to rejoice," "be glad" (Le 23:40 and very frequent). Other nouns are masos and sason, both from sus, properly "to spring," "leap," hence, "exult," "rejoice"; rinnah, "shouting." "joy"; gil, from verb gil or gul, "to go in a circle," hence, "be excited" (dancing round for joy), "rejoice." In the New Testament, far the commonest are chara, "joy," chairo, "to rejoice" (compare charis, "grace"). But we have also agalliasis, which expresses "exuberant joy," "exultation" (not used in classical Greek, but often in the Septuagint; in the New Testament, Lu 1:14,44; Ac 2:46; Jude 1:24; Heb 1:9), and the corresponding verb agalliaoo (-aomai), "to exult," "rejoice exceedingly" (Mt 5:12, etc.). In English Versions of the Bible we have sometimes "to joy" (now obsolete as a verb), used in an intransitive sense = "to rejoice" (Hab 3:18; 2Co 7:13, etc.). 2. In the Old Testament: Besides joy in a general sense, as the response of the mind to any pleasurable event or state (1Ki 1:40; Es 8:17, etc.), joy as a religious emotion is very frequently referred to in the Old Testament. Religion is conceived of as touching the deepest springs of emotion, including the feeling of exultant gladness which often finds outward expression in such actions as leaping, shouting, and singing. Joy is repeatedly shown to be the natural outcome of fellowship with God. "In thy presence is fullness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps 16:11; compare 16:8,9). God is at once the source (Ps 4:7; 51:12) and the object (Ps 35:9; Isa 29:19) of religious joy. The phrase "rejoice (be glad) in Yahweh" and similar. expressions are of frequent occurrence (e.g. Ps 97:12; 149:2; Isa 61:10; Zec 10:7). Many aspects of the Divine character call forth this emotion, such as His lovingkindness (Ps 21:6,7; 31:7), His salvation (Ps 21:1; Isa 25:9; Hab 3:18), His laws and statutes (Ps 12; 119 passim), His judgments (Ps 48:11), His words of comfort in dark days (Jer 15:15,16). The fundamental fact of the sovereignty of God, of the equity of the Divine government of the world, gives to the pious a joyous sense of security in life (Ps 93:1 f; 96:10; 97:1) which breaks forth into songs of praises in which even inanimate Nature is poetically called upon to join (Ps 96:11-13; 98:4-9). In the case of those who held such views of God, it was natural that the service of God should elicit a joyous spirit ("I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy," Ps 27:6; compare 1Ch 29:9), a spirit which is abundantly manifest in the jubilant shouting with which religious festivities were celebrated, and the trumpet-sound which accompanied certain sacrifices (2Sa 6:15; Ps 33:1-3; Nu 10:10; 2Ch 29:27), and especially in psalms of praise, thanksgiving and adoration (Psalms 47; 81; 100, etc.). "Rejoice before Yahweh your God" is an oft-repeated phrase in De with reference to the sacrificial feast (e.g. 12:12). But joy is a Divine, as well as a human, emotion; for God Himself is represented in the Old Testament, not as a rigid, impassible Being, but as susceptible to pleasure and pain. God may be conceived of as "rejoicing in his works" (Ps 104:31; compare Ge 1:31), and over His people "for good" (De 30:9). "He will rejoice over thee (Zion) with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing" (Ze 3:17). Such noble and vivid anthropomorphisms are a nearer approach to the truth than the abstract doctrine of the impassibility of God which, owing to Platonic influences, dominated theology of the early Christian centuries. 3. In the New Testament: The element of joy in religion is still more prominent in the New Testament. It is the appropriate response of the believer to the "good tidings of great joy" which constitute the gospel (Lu 2:10). In the four Gospels, especially Luke, this element is conspicuous. It is seen in the canticles of Lu 1 and 2. It is both exemplified in the life and character, and set forth in the teaching of Jesus. There are many intimations that, in spite of the profound elements of grief and tragedy in His life, His habitual demeanor was gladsome and joyous, certainly not gloomy or ascetic: such as, His description of Himself as bridegroom, in defense of His disciples for not fasting (Mr 2:18-20); the fact that He came "eating and drinking," giving occasion to the charge that He was "a gluttonous man and a winebibber" (Mt 11:19); His "rejoicing in the Holy Spirit" (Lu 10:21); the fact that His presence was found to be congenial at social festivities (Mr 14:3; Lu 14:1; Joh 12:1), and at the wedding in Cana (Joh 2:1 ); His mention of "my joy" (Joh 15:11; 17:13). His teaching with reference to His followers harmonizes with this. The Christian virtues confer on those who attain them not only beatitude, a calm and composed state of felicity (Mt 5:3-11), but also a more exuberant state of joy, which is in sharp contrast to the "sad countenance" of the hypocrites (Mt 6:16) ("Rejoice, and be exceeding glad", Mt 5:12). This spirit is reflected in many of the parables. The discovery of the true treasure of life brings joy (Mt 13:44). The three parables in Lu 15 reveal the joy of the Divine heart itself at the repentance of sinners (see especially 15:5-7,9,10,22-24,32). The parable of the Talents lays stress on the "joy of the Lord" which is the reward of faithfulness (Mt 25:21,23). Jesus confers on His followers not only peace (Joh 14:27; 16:33), but participation in His own fullness of joy (Joh 15:11; 16:24; 17:13), a joy which is permanent, in contrast to the sorrow which is transient (Joh 16:22). In the dark days of disappointment that succeeded the crucifixion, the joy of the disciples passed under a cloud, but at the resurrection (Lu 24:41) and still more on the day of Pentecost it emerged into light, and afterward remained a marked characteristic of the early church (Ac 2:46 f; 8:39; 13:52; 15:3). Paul speaks of joy as one of the fruits of the spirit (Ga 5:22) and of "joy in the Holy Spirit" as an essential mark of the kingdom of God (Ro 14:17). This joy is associated with faith (Php 1:25), hope (Ro 5:2; 12:12), brotherly fellowship and sympathy (Ro 12:15; 2Co 7:13; Php 2:1 f). To rejoice in the Lord is enjoined as a Christian duty (Php 3:1; 4:4; compare 2:17 f; 1Th 5:16). In Christ, the Christian "rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1Pe 1:8), in spite of his temporary afflictions (1Pe 1:6). Christian joy is no mere gaiety that knows no gloom, but is the result of the triumph of faith over adverse and trying circumstances, which, instead of hindering, actually enhance it (Ac 5:41; Ro 5:3 f; Jas 1:2,12; 5:11; 1Pe 4:13; compare Mt 5:11,12). Even our Lord Himself "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame" (Heb 12:2). D. Miall Edwards Joy, IL (village, FIPS 38739) Location: 41.19687 N, 90.87956 W Population (1990): 452 (210 housing units) Area: 1.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 61260 Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms joy I. n. 1. Gladness, delight, glee, exultation, ecstasy, rapture, ravishment, transport, beatitude, beatification. 2. Happiness, felicity, bliss. 3. Cause of gladness, delight, happiness. II. v. n. Exult, rejoice, be glad, be delighted, be joyful. English Explanatory Dictionary (Synonyms) joy dʒɔɪ n. 1 pleasure, gratification, satisfaction, happiness, contentment, enjoyment, gladness, delight, felicity, elation, exaltation, ecstasy, bliss, exhilaration, exultation, rapture: We felt indescribable joy at seeing the children safe and sound. 2 gaiety, cheerfulness, cheer, glee, buoyancy, joviality, jollity, jocundity, joyfulness, joyousness, jubilation, merriment, light-heartedness, blithesomeness: Let me wish you joy in this holiday season. 3 delight, pleasure, treat, blessing, gratification, satisfaction, prize: A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 96 Moby Thesaurus words for "joy": amusement, be in heaven, be pleased, beam, beatification, beatitude, bewitchment, blessedness, bliss, blissfulness, caper, caracole, carol, cheer, cheerfulness, chirp, chirrup, clap hands, cloud nine, crow, crow over, dance, delectation, delight, die with delight, ecstasy, ecstatics, elation, enchantment, enjoyment, exaltation, exhilaration, exuberance, exult, feel happy, felicity, frisk, frivolity, frolic, fruition, fun, gaiety, gambol, gladness, glee, gleefulness, gloat, gloat over, glory, go into raptures, happiness, heaven, high glee, high spirits, hilariousness, hilarity, intoxication, jocularity, jocundity, jolliness, jollity, joviality, joyance, joyfulness, joyousness, jubilate, laugh, laughter, levity, lilt, merriment, merriness, mirth, mirthfulness, overhappiness, overjoyfulness, paradise, purr, rapture, ravishment, rejoice, revel, rollick, romp, seventh heaven, sing, skip, skip for joy, smile, sunshine, take great satisfaction, transport, tread on air, triumph, unalloyed happiness, whistle |
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