# jovial

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈd͡ʒəʊ.vɪ.əl/ · frequency rank #39,876

## Definitions
1. Cheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry.
2. Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see sense 1).

## Etymology
First attested in 1590; borrowed from Middle French jovial (“under the influence of Jupiter; of Jove; jovial, jolly”), from Italian gioviale (“(now obsolete) born under the influence of the planet Jupiter”) (attested in Dante, Paradiso, canto XVIII, early 14th century), from Late Latin Ioviālis (“relating to the Roman god Jupiter”), from Iuppiter, Iovis (“the Roman god Jove or Jupiter, counterpart of the Greek god Zeus”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to be bright; heaven, sky”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); analysable as Jove + -ial.
Sense 1 (“cheerful and good-humoured”) refers to the fact that individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter were believed to have that disposition.

## Easily confused with
- **Josiah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/josiah-vs-jovial)

## Common misspellings (8)
`jjovial`, `joival`, `jovail`, `joviall`, `jovila`, `jovvial`, `jvoial`, `ojvial`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/jovial