happy

happy
\ \ [14] The Old and Middle English word for ‘happy’ was what in modern English has become silly. This began to change its meaning around the 15th century, and obviously an opportunity began to open up for an adjective expressing ‘contentment’ (as opposed to positive ‘joy’, denoted then by glad, fain, and joyful).
\ \ The gap was partly filled by a weakening in the meaning of glad, but waiting in the wings was happy, a derivative of the noun hapchance, luck’ (source of happen), which when it was coined in the 14th century meant ‘lucky, fortunate, prosperous’. The main modern sense ‘highly pleased or contented’ developed in the early 16th century.
\ \ Cf.HAPPEN

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Happy — Hap py (h[a^]p p[y^]), a. [Compar. {Happier} ( p[i^]*[ e]r); superl. {Happiest}.] [From {Hap} chance.] 1. Favored by hap, luck, or fortune; lucky; fortunate; successful; prosperous; satisfying desire; as, a happy expedient; a happy effort; a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Happy 15 — Single par THE Possible extrait de l’album Kyūkyoku no The Possible Best Number Shō 1 Face A Happy 15 Face B Washoku Bijin Sortie 7 novembre 2007 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • happy — (adj.) late 14c., lucky, favored by fortune, prosperous; of events, turning out well, from HAP (Cf. hap) (n.) chance, fortune + Y (Cf. y) (2). Sense of very glad first recorded late 14c. Ousted O.E. eadig (from ead wealth, riches ) and gesælig,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • -happy — UK [hæpi] US suffix used with some nouns to make adjectives meaning that someone is too willing to do or use something bad trigger happy (=too willing to shoot a gun) Thesaurus: suffixeshyponym * * * happy Used freely during and since the 1939–45 …   Useful english dictionary

  • happy — [hap′ē] adj. happier, happiest [ME happi < hap: see HAP1] 1. favored by circumstances; lucky; fortunate 2. having, showing, or causing a feeling of great pleasure, contentment, joy, etc.; joyous; glad; pleased 3. exactly appropriate to the… …   English World dictionary

  • Happy — (engl. glücklich, fröhlich) bezieht sich auf einen Ort in den USA, siehe Happy (Texas) einen Film von 1999, siehe Happy, Texas den US amerikanischer Politiker Albert Happy Chandler, siehe Albert Chandler eine schweizer Popmusikerin, siehe Heidi… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Happy TV — Happy ТВ Happy TV Création juin 2002 Langue Serbe Pays  Serbie Statut …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Happy? — Студийный альбом Public Image Ltd Дата выпуска 14 сентября 1987 Записан весна – лето 1987 The Manor Studio, Shipton on Cherwell Great Linford Manor Studios, Milton Keynes Жанр …   Википедия

  • happy — /ˈɛppi, ingl. ˈhæpɪ/ [vc. ingl., in ant. hap, dal norreno happe «buona sorte»] agg. inv. nelle loc. happy end, lieto fine □ happy hour , (in bar e sim.) ora dello sconto □ happy few (iron.), i pochi eletti, i privilegiati …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • Happy 7 — may refer to:* Happy Seven, anime series * Happy 7, Hello! Project shuffle units …   Wikipedia

  • Happy — Happy, TX U.S. town in Texas Population (2000): 647 Housing Units (2000): 295 Land area (2000): 1.065105 sq. miles (2.758608 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.065105 sq. miles (2.758608 sq. km)… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

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