Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MER'RY, a. [Sax. mirige, myrig; Ar. مَرِحَ maricha, to be joyful. Class Mr, No. 10.]

1. Gay and noisy; jovial; exhilarated to laughter. Man is the merriest species of the creation. Addison. They drank and were merry with him. Gen. xliii.
2. Causing laughter or mirth; as, a merry jest. Shak.
3. Brisk; as, a merry gale. [This is the primary sense of the word.]
4. Pleasant; agreeable; delightful. Chaucer. To make merry, to be jovial; to indulge in hilarity; to feast with mirth. Judges ix.