Joyce

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The Irish modernist author who wrote Ulysses and Dubliners ; a feminine first name of English origin
2. The early twentieth-century Irish novelist behind Ulysses and Dubliners ; a woman's given name derived from an old Breton source
3. Irish writer famous for the novel Ulysses ; a female personal name commonly given to girls in English-speaking countries

Etymology: Joyce began as a saint's name rather than a word for happiness. Its earliest form was the Breton name Iodoc, borne by a seventh-century saint whose name was Latinized as Iodocus. Breton Iodoc was a diminutive of "iudh", meaning "lord", which goes back to a Proto-Celtic root, so the name carried the sense of a little lord or noble youth. The name then travelled into French as Josse, and from there into England, where it was used as a given name in the Middle Ages. It later hardened into a surname as well, and the English word "joy" has no connection to it at all, despite the similarity in sound.