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Felicity
Definitions
- 1 A female given name from English.
"Fliss had them. Felicity Benson, Happiness Benson. Except she's not very happy at the moment, not with me."
- 1 Happiness; (countable) an instance of this. uncountable
"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."
- 2 pleasing and appropriate manner or style (especially manner or style of expression) wordnet
- 3 An apt and pleasing style in speech, writing, etc.; (countable) an apt and pleasing choice of words. uncountable
- 4 state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy wordnet
- 5 Good luck; success; (countable) An instance of unexpected good luck; a stroke of luck; also, a lucky characteristic. rare, uncountable
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- 6 Reproduction of a sign with fidelity. uncountable
"The quotation was rendered with felicity."
- 7 Something that is either a source of happiness or particularly apt. countable
"[…] 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."
- 8 Period (as opposed to lifetime) utility. uncountable
"In equation (19.24) U#95;C(#92;cdot) is the marginal felicity of consumption[.]"
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)).
From the noun felicity, and also the English form of Latin Felicitas, a name borne by early martyrs.
See also for "felicity"
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