Merrymaking

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The engaging in festive activities, celebration, and joyful revelry, often accompanied by music, dancing, and social enjoyment
2. lively celebration and festive enjoyment involving music, dancing, and social gaiety
3. joyful revelry and festive conduct characterized by dancing, entertainment, and communal pleasure

Etymology: Merrymaking is a plain compound of two English words: "merry," meaning cheerful or lively, and "making," the noun formed from the verb "make." Its Old English ancestry is the adjective "myrige," which meant pleasant or agreeable before it came to mean jolly, and the verb "make" has carried the sense of doing or producing since the same early period. Put together, the two describe the act of producing merriment. The compound "merrymake" existed as a verb first, and "merrymaking" was then formed from it by adding the "-ing" ending, which turns a verb into a noun for an activity. So the word names the festivities themselves rather than any one person's cheerfulness. Its structure is transparent enough that most speakers can parse it at a glance, which is one reason it has stayed in use for centuries without drifting far from its original sense.

Synonyms: celebration, festivity

Antonyms: mourning