Merry vs Marry - What's the difference?
merry | marry |
Jolly and full of high spirits
* Shakespeare
Festive and full of fun and laughter
* 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
Brisk
Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight.
* Spenser
(euphemistic) drunk; tipsy
To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife.
* 1641', Evelyn, ''Diary'', quoted in '''1869 by Edward J. Wood in ''The Wedding Day in All Ages and Countries , volume 2, page 241:
* 1755 , The Holy Bible, both Old and New Testament, Digested, Illustrated, and Explained , second edition, page 59:
(in passive) To be joined (to) (someone) as spouse according to law or custom.
To arrange for the marriage of; to give away as wife or husband.
* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew XXIII:
To take as husband or wife.
(figuratively) To unite; to join together into a close union.
* (rfdate), Bible (KJV), Jeremiah 3.14:
To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to perform the ceremony of joining spouses; to bring about a marital union according to the laws or customs of a place.
* (rfdate), Gay, The what d'ye call it :
(nautical) To place (two ropes) alongside each other so that they may be grasped and hauled on at the same time.
(nautical) To join (two ropes) end to end so that both will pass through a block.
(obsolete) indeed!, in truth!; a term of asseveration.
* William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part ii , Act 1, Scene 2,
As an adjective merry
is jolly and full of high spirits.As a proper noun Merry
is {{surname|from=nicknames}} Originally a nickname for a merry person.As a verb marry is
to enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife.As an interjection marry is
indeed!, in truth!; a term of asseveration.merry
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Adjective
(er)- We had a very merry Christmas.
- I am never merry when I hear sweet music.
- f I have the chance, I will make our worshipful Sheriff pay right well for that which he hath done to me. Maybe I may bring him some time into Sherwood Forest and have him to a right merry feast with us.
- Everyone was merry at the party.
- The play moved along at a merry pace.
- a merry jest
- merry wind and weather
- Some of us got a little merry at the office Christmas party.
Alternative forms
* (obsolete) meryDerived terms
* Merry Christmas * Merry EidSynonyms
* happy * gay * content * joyful * cheerful * pleased * exultant * ecstatic * jovialAntonyms
* miserable * unhappyDerived terms
* merrier * merrily * merrimentmarry
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) marien, from (etyl) marier, from (etyl) .(ae)J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture , s.v. "woman" (London: Dearborn Fitzroy, 1997), 656.)Verb
(en-verb)- Neither of her daughters showed any desire to marry .
- Evelyn, in his "Diary," under date 1641, says that at Haerlem "they showed us a cottage where, they told us, dwelt a woman who had been married to her twenty-fifth husband, and, being now a widow, was prohibited to marry in future; "
- But Esau'', being now forty years of age, took a false step by marrying not only without his parents consent; but with two wives, daughters of the ''Hittites .
- She was not happily married .
- His daughter was married some five years ago to a tailor's apprentice.
- The kyngdome of heven is lyke unto a certayne kinge, which maryed his sonne [...].
- He was eager to marry his daughter to a nobleman.
- In some cultures, it is acceptable for an uncle to marry his niece.
- The attempt to marry medieval plainsong with speed metal produced interesting results.
- Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you.
- A justice of the peace will marry Jones and Smith.
- Tell him that he shall marry the couple himself.
Synonyms
* get married * wed * dowryingAntonyms
* divorceDerived terms
* * married sectorInterjection
(en-interj)!- I have chequed him for it, and the young lion repents; marry , not in ashes and sackcloth, but in new silk and old sack.