Etymology Explorer › Norwegian Nynorsk

Where does “jovial” come from?

jovial (Norwegian Nynorsk) comes from German jovial, from French jovial, from Middle French jovial, from Italian gioviale, from Latin ioviālis, from Latin iuppiter, from Proto-Italic djous patēr, from Proto-Italic *djous — to be bright; sky, heaven.

jovial (Norwegian Nynorsk): jovial

Definitions

  1. jovial

Ancestry of “jovial”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanjovialjovial
2Frenchjovialjovial, jolly
3Middle Frenchjovial—
4Italiangiovialejolly, jovial
5Latinioviālis—
6Latiniuppiter—
7Proto-Italicdjous patērJupiter
8Proto-Italic*djous—
9Proto-Indo-Europeandyḗwssky, heaven; sky god
10Proto-Indo-Europeandyéws—
11Proto-Indo-Europeandyew-to be bright; sky, heaven
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dyew- →