Origin Story
The word jovial holds both a star and a god within it. Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, was also called Jove in Latin, and the planet named after him is Jupiter. Medieval astrologers believed that the planet you were born under shaped your character. Those born under Jupiter — under Jove — were thought to be generous, cheerful, and merry. And so jovialis, "of Jupiter," came to mean simply "cheerful." Today the link to the star has been forgotten, and only the sense of merriment remains.
In the same astrology, those born under Saturn were said to be gloomy (saturnine), and those born under Mercury changeable (mercurial). Jovial is one of a whole family of words in which a planet's name became a name for a temperament.
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Online Etymology Dictionaryjovial (adj.): 1580s, "under the influence of the planet Jupiter," from French jovial, from Italian gioviale, from Latin Iovialis "of Jupiter," from Iovius (Jove); those born under its sign were thought to be jolly
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Merriam-Webster Dictionaryjovial: from Middle French, from Late Latin jovialis of Jupiter, from Latin Jov-, Juppiter Jupiter; from the supposed cheerful influence of the planet Jupiter
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Oxford English Dictionaryjovial: from Latin jovialis "of Jupiter," from the astrological belief that those born under Jupiter were of a happy disposition
Word Evolution
Words from the Same Root
Memory Hook
Remember jovial as the cheerful influence of Jupiter (Jove). It pairs with saturnine (Saturn).
""A merry soul, they believed, carried the generous influence of Jupiter.""
