Merriments

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Joyful celebrations or activities that evoke laughter and fun
2. occasions marked by amusement and jovial interactions among participants
3. expressions of happiness often shared in gatherings or festivities

Etymology: "Merriments" is simply the plural of "merriment," so it is worth knowing what the singular carries. "Merriment" is formed from "merry" plus the suffix "-ment." The "-ment" ending came into English from Old French, where it had descended from the Latin "-mentum," a suffix that turned verbs into nouns naming a result or an action. That is why "merriment" reads as a state or act of being merry rather than a quality. The base word "merry" is older still. It traces back to Middle English "mery," which had the sense of pleasant or agreeable before it settled on cheerful, and its roots reach back through Proto-Indo-European, though the English word itself is the part readers meet most. Because "merriments" pluralizes the noun, it refers to separate occasions of merriment, the individual festive moments that make up a celebration.

Synonyms: joys, festivities, celebrations, glees, revelries

Antonyms: sorrow, mourning, sadness, gloom, discontent