Part 6979

<hw>Mer"ri*ment</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>Gayety, with laughter; mirth; frolic.</def> "Follies and light <i>merriment</i>."

<i>Spenser.</i>

<blockquote>Methought it was the sound Of riot and ill-managed <b>merriment</b>. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Merriness</h1> <Xpage=914>

<hw>Mer"ri*ness</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The quality or state of being merry; merriment; mirth; gayety, with laughter.</def>

<h1>Merry</h1> <Xpage=914>

<hw>Mer"ry</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>Compar.</tt> <er>Merrier</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>superl.</tt> <er>Merriest</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OE. <ets>merie</ets>, <ets>mirie</ets>, <ets>murie</ets>, merry, pleasant, AS. <ets>merge</ets>, <ets>myrige</ets>, pleasant; cf. <ets>murge</ets>, adv.; prob. akin to OHG. <ets>murg</ets>, short, Goth. <ets>gama\'a3rgjan</ets> to shorten; cf. L. <ets>murcus</ets> a coward, who cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of making the time seem short. Cf. <er>Mirth</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play ; sportive.</def>

<blockquote>They drank, and were <b>merry</b> with him. <i>Gen. xliii. 34.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>I am never <b>merry</b> when I hear sweet music. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<hr> <page="915"> Page 915<p>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy.</def>

<blockquote>Is any <b>merry</b> <?/ let him sing psalms. <i>Jas. v. 13.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight; <as>as, <?/ <ex>merry</ex> jest</as>.</def> "<i>Merry</i> wind and weather."

<i>Spenser.</i>

<cs><col>Merry dancers</col>. <cd>See under <er>Dancer</er>.</cd> -- <col>Merry men</col>, <cd>followers; retainers. <mark>[Obs.]</mark></cd>

<blockquote>His <b>merie men</b> commanded he To make him bothe game and glee. <i>Chaucer.</i></blockquote>

-- <col>To make merry</col>, <cd>to be jovial; to indulge in hilarity; to feast with mirth.</cd> <i>Judg. ix. 27</i>.</cs>

<syn>Syn. -- Cheerful; blithe; lively; sprightly; vivacious; gleeful; joyous; mirthful; jocund; sportive; hilarious.</syn>

<h1>Merry</h1> <Xpage=915>

<hw>Mer"ry</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>A kind of wild red cherry.</def>

<h1>Merry-andrew</h1> <Xpage=915>

<hw>Mer"ry-an"drew</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>One whose business is to make sport for others; a buffoon; a zany; especially, one who attends a mountebank or quack doctor.</def>

<note>&hand; This term is said to have originated from one Andrew Borde, an English physician of the 16th century, who gained patients by facetious speeches to the multitude.</note>

<h1>Merry-go-round</h1> <Xpage=915>

<hw>Mer"ry-go`-round"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>Any revolving contrivance for affording amusement; esp., a ring of flying hobbyhorses.</def>

<h1>Merrymake</h1> <Xpage=915>

<hw>Mer"ry*make`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>Mirth; frolic; a meeting for mirth; a festival.</def> <altsp>[Written also <asp>merrimake</asp>.]</altsp>

<h1>Merrymake</h1> <Xpage=915>