Dictionary

felicity en · NOUN

Pronunciation

(General-American) audio
/fɪˈlɪsɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
/fəˈlɪsəti/ (General-American)
[-ɾi] (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English felicite (“bliss, happiness, joy; delight, pleasure; a source of happiness; good fortune; prosperity; well-being; of a planet: in an influential position”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French felicité (modern French félicité (“bliss, happiness; felicity”)), from Latin fēlīcitātem, the accusative singular of fēlīcitās (“fertility, fruitfulness; happiness, felicity; good fortune; success”), from fēlīx (“happy; blessed, fortunate, lucky; fertile, fruitful; prosperous; auspicious, favourable”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to nurse, suckle”)) + -itās (a variant of -tās (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being)).

Meanings

(uncountable) The condition of being happy.
- Although he shows traces of the Romantic belief in the felicity of the savage, these are not numerous or important and there is no suggestion in his work that mankind could or should revert to a primitive life-style. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 411:
(uncountable) The condition of being happy. ▸ Intense happiness.
- Whan this ſayd monument diſcouered was / Suche a ſuauite and fragrant odoure / Aſcended from the corps by ſingular grace / Paſſyng all worldly ſwetnes and ſauour / That all there present that day and hour / Suppoſed they had ben / in the felicite / Of erthely paradiſe / without ambiguite. 1513, Henry Bradshaw, edited by Edward Hawkins, The Holy Lyfe and History of Saynt Werburge: Very Frutefull for All Christen People to Rede (Remains Historical & Literary Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester Published by The Chetham Society; volume XV), […] The Chetham Society, published 1848:
- [T]he wiſe Man gave his Teſtimony to this, as the juſt Standard of true Felicity, when he prayed to have neither Poverty nor Riches. 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 3:
- For two reasons then it is right to be content with that which happens to thee; the one, because it was done for thee and prescribed for thee, and in a manner had reference to thee, originally from the most ancient causes spun with thy destiny; and the other, because even that which comes severally to every man is to the power which administers the universe a cause of felicity and perfection, nay even of its very continuance. 1862, M[arcus] Aurelius Antoninus [i.e., Marcus Aurelius], “Book V”, in George Long, transl., The Thoughts of the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, London: Bell and Daldy, […], →OCLC, page 66:
- […] Mr. and Mrs. Norris began their career of conjugal felicity with very little less than a thousand a year. 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 2:
(countable) The condition of being happy. ▸ An instance of intense happiness.
(uncountable) An apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.; (countable) an apt and pleasing choice of words.
(rare, uncountable) Good luck; success; (countable) An instance of unexpected good luck; a stroke of luck; also, a lucky characteristic.
(uncountable) Reproduction of a sign with fidelity.
- The quotation was rendered with felicity.
(countable) Something that is either a source of happiness or particularly apt.
- The season’s main attraction, the felicities of the sun, dimmed in the light of our competition and our growing friendliness. 2007 August 7, Joshua Ferris, “Table for two”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2020:
- […] to weare our ſelues & neuer reſt, Untill we reach the ripeſt fruites of all, That perfect bliſſe and ſole felicitie, The ſweet fruition of an earthly crowne. c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:
(uncountable) Period (as opposed to lifetime) utility.
- In equation (19.24) U#95;C(#92;cdot) is the marginal felicity of consumption[.] 2017, Ben J. Heidra, Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, third edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 756:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
felicities	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Translations (9)

fr félicité (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · mk у́месност (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · pt felicidade (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · el ευδαιμονία (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · mk соо́дветност (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · eo feliĉego (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · cmn 得體 /得体 (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · it felicità (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.) · es felicidad (apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.)

felicity en · NOUN

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Etymology

Meanings

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Translations (9)