Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Jovial

Jo′vi·al (jō′vĭ·al), a. [F., fr. L. Jovialis pertaining to Jove. The planet Jupiter was thought to make those born under it joyful or jovial. See Jove.]

1. Of or pertaining to the god, or the planet, Jupiter. [Obs.]

Our jovial star reigned at his birth. Shak.

The fixed stars astrologically differenced by the planets, and esteemed Martial or Jovial according to the colors whereby they answer these planets. Sir T. Browne.

2. Sunny; serene. [Obs.] "The heavens always joviall." Spenser.

3. Gay; merry; joyous; jolly; mirth-inspiring; hilarious; characterized by mirth or jollity; as, a jovial youth; a jovial company; a jovial poem.

Be bright and jovial among your guests. Shak.

His odes are some of them panegyrical, others moral; the rest are jovial or bacchanalian. Dryden.

☞ This word is a relic of the belief in planetary influence. Other examples are saturnine, mercurial, martial, lunatic, etc.

Syn. — Merry; joyous; gay; festive; mirthful; gleeful; jolly; hilarious.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.