13 December 2011
What's the difference between happiness and joy? This question has been on my mind all week.
Modern dictionaries do it no good so I turn instead to the OED, where I learn: 1. "Joy" predates "happiness" by almost 300 years in the English language. 2. The root of "happiness," "hap," is just as old as "joy." It means "chance or fortune (good or bad) that falls to anyone; luck, lot." 3. "Joy" was originally used as a verb, much like "enjoy" is today. 4. "Rejoice" is a term used in several definitions of "joy" despite it's secondary birth. Its oldest definition: "to enjoy by possessing; to have full possession and use of (a thing)." Additional definitions specify possession of a spouse, condition or privilege.
Perhaps my initial inclination—that joy's depth is greater than that of happiness—is correct. Should our modern definitions of these words be so empty as to lose significant nuance? How sad.
Happiness v. Joy • Opuss № I