Emily Dickinson Lexicon

JOY'OUS, a. [Fr. joyeux.]

1. Glad; gay; merry; joyful. Joyous the birds; fresh gales and gentle airs / Whispered it. – Milton.
2. Giving joy. They, all as glad as birds of joyous prime. – Spenser. It has of, before the cause of joy. And joyous of our conquest early won. – Dryden.