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.
Jo"vi*al*ist (?), n. One who lives a jovial life. Bp. Hall.
Jo`vi*al"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. jovialité.] The quality or state of being
jovial. Sir T. Herbert.
Jo"vi*al*ly (?), adv. In a jovial manner; merrily; gayly. B. Jonson.
Jo"vi*al*ness, n. Noisy mirth; joviality. Hewyt.
Jo"vi*al*ty (?), n. Joviality. [R.] Barrow.
Jo"vi*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Jove, or Jupiter (either the deity
or the planet).
Jo`vi*cen"tric (?), a. [See Jove, and Center.] (Astron.) Revolving
around the planet Jupiter; appearing as viewed from Jupiter. [R.] J. R.
Hind.
Jo*vin"ian*ist (?), n. (Script. Hist.) An adherent to the doctrines of
Jovinian, a monk of the fourth century, who denied the virginity of
Mary, and opposed the asceticism of his time.
Jowl (?), n. [For older chole, chaul, AS. ceaft jaw. Cf. Chaps.] The
cheek; the jaw. [Written also jole, choule, chowle, and geoule.]
Cheek by jowl, with the cheeks close together; side by side; in close
proximity. "I will go with thee cheek by jole." Shak. " Sits cheek by
jowl." Dryden.