Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “jovial” come from?

jovial (French) comes from Middle French jovial, from Italian gioviale, from Latin ioviālis, from Latin iuppiter, from Proto-Italic djous patēr, from Proto-Italic *djous, from Proto-Indo-European dyḗws, from Proto-Indo-European dyéws — to be bright; sky, heaven.

jovial (French): jovial, jolly

Definitions

  1. jovial, jolly

Ancestry of “jovial”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchjovial—
2Italiangiovialejolly, jovial
3Latinioviālis—
4Latiniuppiter—
5Proto-Italicdjous patērJupiter
6Proto-Italic*djous—
7Proto-Indo-Europeandyḗwssky, heaven; sky god
8Proto-Indo-Europeandyéws—
9Proto-Indo-Europeandyew-to be bright; sky, heaven

Words derived from “jovial”

  • jovial
  • jovially
  • jovialness
  • jovialist
  • jovial
  • jovial
  • jovial
  • žoviální
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dyew- →