happiness

English

Alternative forms

• happinesse, happyness (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kob-der.

Proto-Germanic *hampą

Old Norse happbor.

Middle English hap

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

Middle English happy

English happy

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English happiness

From happy + -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhæpinɪs/, /ˈhæpinəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hap‧pi‧ness

Noun

happiness (countable and uncountable, plural happinesses)

2. (uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.

   Synonyms: felicity, high spirits; see also Thesaurus:happiness

   Antonyms: haplessness, unhappiness; see also Thesaurus:sadness

   seek happiness

   true happiness

   bring happiness to others

   Money can’t buy happiness.

   She found happiness in the small things.

   • 1877, W. S. Gilbert, The Sorcerer:

     Yes, Aline, true happiness comes of true love, and true love should be independent of external influences.

3. (archaic, uncountable) Prosperity, thriving, wellbeing.

   Antonym: suffering

   • 1776, United States Declaration of Independence:

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

4. (archaic, uncountable) Good luck; good fortune.

   Synonyms: felicity, fortuity; see also Thesaurus:good luck

   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 20, column 2:

     All happineſſe bechance to thee in Millaine.

5. (obsolete, countable) Fortuitous elegance; unstudied grace, used especially of language.
   • 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 10:

     Some Beauties yet, no Precepts can declare, / For there's a Happineſs as well as Care.

Usage notes

• The word happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment.

Synonyms

• felicity (somewhat dated or formal)
• blessedness (dated or religious)
• bliss (more exalted delight, suggesting heaven)
• high spirits
• joy, joyfulness, joyousness
• pleasure

Derived terms

• bluebird of happiness
• double happiness
• gross national happiness
• happiness pump
• money can't buy happiness
• nonhappiness
• trigger-happiness
• unhappiness

Translations

emotion of being happy

• Afrikaans: geluk (af)
• Albanian: lumturi (sq) f, hare (sq)
• Arabic: سَعَادَة f (saʕāda), فَرَح (ar) (faraḥ)
• Armenian: երջանկություն (hy) (erǰankutʻyun)
• Asturian: felicidá f
• Avar: талихӏ (taliḥʳ)
• Azerbaijani: xoşbəxtlik, səadət
• Bashkir: бәхет (bəxet)
• Belarusian: шча́сце n (ščáscje), шча́сьце n (ščásʹcje)
• Bengali: সুখ (bn) (śukh)
• Bulgarian: ща́стие (bg) n (štástie)
• Burmese: သုခ (my) (su.hka.)
• Catalan: felicitat (ca) f
• Cebuano: kalipay
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 幸福 (hang⁶ fuk¹), 快樂 / 快乐 (faai³ lok⁶), 愉快 (jyu⁴ faai³ / jyu⁶ faai³)

  Literary Chinese: 福 (fú), 礽 (réng), 祉 (zhǐ)

  Mandarin: 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 快樂 / 快乐 (zh) (kuàilè), 愉快 (zh) (yúkuài)

• Czech: štěstí (cs) n
• Danish: lykke (da) c, glæde c, gammen
• Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n, vreugde (nl) f
• Egyptian: (ꜣwt-jb)
• Esperanto: feliĉo, feliĉeco
• Estonian: õnn (et)
• Farefare: pupeelum
• Faroese: gleði f
• Finnish: onnellisuus (fi), onni (fi), ilo (fi), riemu (fi)
• French: bonheur (fr) m
• Galician: felicidade (gl) f
• Georgian: ბედნიერება (bedniereba)
• German: Glück (de) n, Glücklichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía)

  Ancient Greek: εὐδαιμονία f (eudaimonía)

• Guarani:

  Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} vy'a (gn)

• Hawaiian: hauʻoli
• Hebrew: אושר \ אֹשֶׁר (he) m ('ósher)
• Hindi: * Hindi: हर्ष (hi) m (harṣ), आनंद (hi) m (ānand), सुख (hi) m (sukh), प्रसन्नता (hi) f (prasannatā), आह्लाद (hi) m (āhlād), ख़ुशी f (xuśī)
• Hungarian: boldogság (hu)
• Hunsrik: Glick n
• Icelandic: gleði (is) f, hamingja (is) f
• Ido: feliceso (io)
• Indonesian: kebahagiaan (id)
• Ingrian: onni, ilo
• Ingush: ираз (iraz)
• Irish: sonas m, suáilceas m
• Italian: felicità (it) f, gioia (it) f
• Japanese: 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 幸せ (ja) (しあわせ, shiawase), 愉快 (ja) (ゆかい, yukai)
• Kabuverdianu: filisidadi
• Kashubian: szczescé n
• Kazakh: бақыт (baqyt)
• Khmer: សុភមង្គល (km) (sophĕəʼmŭəngkŭəl), កាមសុខ (km) (kaamĕəʼsok), បរមសុខ (paʼraʼmaʼsok), បាមោជ្ជ (km) (paamaoccĕəʼ), បីតិ (km) (pəyteʼ), ប្រមោទ (km) (prɑmaot), ប្រីតា (km) (prəytaa)
• Korean: 행복(幸福) (ko) (haengbok), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum), 희열(喜悅) (ko) (huiyeol), 열락(悅樂) (yeollak)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bextewerî (ku), seadet (ku)

• Kyrgyz: бакыт (ky) (bakıt)
• Lao: ຄວາມສຸກ (lo) (khuām suk)
• Latgalian: laime
• Latin: laetitia f, gaudium n, felicitas f
• Latvian: laime (lv) f
• Lithuanian: laimė (lt)
• Luxembourgish: Gléck n
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост (mk) f (radost)
• Malay: kebahagiaan, kegembiraan
• Malayalam: സന്തോഷം (ml) (santōṣaṁ), ആഹ്ലാദം (ml) (āhlādaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ)
• Maltese: feliċita f
• Māori: uruhautanga, hurō
• Mauritian Creole: jos, lazwa
• Middle English: wynne
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: аз жаргал (az žargal)

• Navajo: ił hózhǫ́
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lykke (no) m, glede (no) m

  Nynorsk: lukke

• Occitan: felicitat (oc) f, bonaür (oc)
• Old East Slavic: съчастиѥ n (sŭčastije)
• Old English: bliss (ang) f, ġefēa m
• Old Norse: gleði f
• Pannonian Rusyn: щесце n (ščesce)
• Pashto: خوشبختي (ps) f (xošbaxtí), سعادت (ps) m (sa'ādát)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: خوشْبَخْتی (xošbaxti), شادی (fa) (šâdi), سَعادَت (sa'âdat)

• Plautdietsch: Freid f, Häaj f
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n, radość (pl) f
• Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
• Quechua: kusi
• Romani: baxt f
• Romanian: bucurie (ro) f, fericire (ro) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: illu

• Sanskrit: सुख (sa) n (sukhá)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сре̏ћа f

  Latin: srȅća f

• Shor: ырыс (ırıs)
• Silesian: szczyńście n
• Sinhalese: සන්තෝෂය (santōṣaya)
• Slovak: šťastie n, radosť f
• Slovene: sreča (sl) f
• Spanish: felicidad (es) f
• Swahili: raha (sw)
• Swedish: lycka (sv) c, glädje (sv) c, fröjd (sv) c
• Tabasaran: бахт (baꭓt)
• Tagalog: kaligayahan, ligaya (tl)
• Tajik: бахт (baxt), саодат (saodat), шодӣ (tg) (šodi), хушбахтӣ (tg) (xušbaxti)
• Tamil: மகிழ்ச்சி (ta) (makiḻcci), சந்தோஷம் (ta) (cantōṣam)
• Tatar: бәхет (tt) (bäxet), сәгадәть (säğädätʹ), сәгадәт (tt) (säğädät)
• Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ)
• Thai: ความสุข (th) (kwaam-sùk)
• Tibetan: བདེ་བ (bde ba)
• Turkish: mutluluk (tr), saadet (tr), bahtiyarlık (tr)
• Turkmen: bagt (tk), şatlyk, eýgilik
• Tuvan: аас-кежик (aas-kejik)
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)
• Urdu: خُوشی f (xūśī), سَعادَت (ur) f (sa'ādat)
• Uyghur: بەخت (bext), خۇشاللىق (xushalliq), سائادەت (sa'adet), بەختلىك (bextlik), دىلشاتلىق (dilshatliq), ھالاۋەت (halawet)
• Uzbek: baxt (uz), chogʻlik (uz), xushbaxtlik (uz), saodat (uz)
• Venetan: ałegrézsa f, ałegrìa f
• Vietnamese: hạnh phúc (vi) (幸福)
• Walloon: bouneur (wa) m
• Welsh: hapusrwydd (cy)
• Yiddish: גליק n (glik)

good luck

• Bulgarian: късме́т (bg) m (kăsmét)
• Czech: štěstí (cs) n
• Dutch: geluk (nl) n, fortuin (nl)
• Finnish: onni (fi), onnekkuus (fi)
• German: Glück (de) n
• Greek: ευημερία (el) f (evimería), προκοπή (el) f (prokopí), ευπραγία (el) f (efpragía)
• Hungarian: szerencse (hu)
• Icelandic: lukka f
• Ingrian: onni, lykky
• Italian: gioia (it) f, felicità (it) f
• Japanese: 幸運 (ja) (こううん, kōun)
• Korean: 행운(幸運) (ko) (haeng'un)
• Latin: fēlīcitās f
• Latvian: laime (lv) f
• Lithuanian: laimė (lt) m
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), коб f (kob)
• Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hell (no) n

• Polish: szczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: fortuna (pt) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča), везе́ние (ru) n (vezénije), фортуна (ru) f (fortuna)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Slovak: šťastie
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), уда́ча f (udáča), везі́ння n (vezínnja)
• Vietnamese: may mắn (vi), phúc (vi)

agreeable feeling

• Dutch: blijheid (nl) f, blijdschap (nl), geluk (nl) n
• Finnish: onnellisuus (fi)
• German: Fröhlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ευτυχία (el) f (eftychía), χαρά (el) f (chará)
• Italian: felicità (it) f, allegria (it) f
• Korean: 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 만족(滿足)) (manjok)), 충족(充足) (chungjok), 열락(悅樂) (yeollak)
• Latvian: laime (lv) f
• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa), радост (mk) f (radost)
• Malayalam: സുഖം (ml) (sukhaṁ), ആനന്ദം (ml) (ānandaṁ)
• Māori: hurō
• Polish: szczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: felicidade (pt) f, alegria (pt) f
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: àigh m
• Telugu: సంతోషం (te) (santōṣaṁ)
• Ukrainian: ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja), ра́дість f (rádistʹ)

fortuitous elegance

• Macedonian: среќа f (sreḱa)
• Russian: сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje), уда́ча (ru) f (udáča)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} سَعَادَة f (saʕāda)
• Bengali: ^{(please verify)} সুখ (bn) (śukh)
• Cebuano: ^{(please verify)} kalipay
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} feliĉo
• French: ^{(please verify)} bonheur (fr) m
• Kannada: ^{(please verify)} ಸುಖ (kn) (sukha), ^{(please verify)} ಸಂತೋಷ (kn) (santōṣa)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} خۆشی (xoşî)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ^{(please verify)} glede (no) m, ^{(please verify)} lykke (no) m

• Old English: ^{(please verify)} ēad n
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} àigh m, ^{(please verify)} sonas m, ^{(please verify)} subhachas m, ^{(please verify)} toileachas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} срећа f

  Latin: ^{(please verify)} sreća f

• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} sreča (sl) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} glädje (sv), ^{(please verify)} lycka (sv)

References

• “happiness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• Happiness (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• happiness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia