Joyance
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Enjoyment, joy, delight. archaic, countable, poetic, uncountable
"So forth they marchen in this goodly fort, / To take the ſolace of the open aire, / And in freſh flowring fields themſelues to ſport; / Emongſt the reſt rode that falſe Lady faire, / The foule Dueſsa, next vnto the chaire / Of proud Lucifer’, as one of the traine: / But that good knight would not ſo nigh repaire, / Him ſelfe eſtraunging from their ioyaunce vaine, / Whoſe fellowſhip ſeemd far vnfitt for warlike ſwaine."
Example
More examples"So forth they marchen in this goodly fort, / To take the ſolace of the open aire, / And in freſh flowring fields themſelues to ſport; / Emongſt the reſt rode that falſe Lady faire, / The foule Dueſsa, next vnto the chaire / Of proud Lucifer’, as one of the traine: / But that good knight would not ſo nigh repaire, / Him ſelfe eſtraunging from their ioyaunce vaine, / Whoſe fellowſhip ſeemd far vnfitt for warlike ſwaine."
Etymology
Apparently coined by Edmund Spenser, from joy + -ance.
More for "joyance"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.