Mayra San
Community-Tutor
What is the difference between happiness and felicity? Should I use happiness or felicity? Recently, I saw the name Felicity Hoffman and I ask myself that question.
16. Mai 2014 06:02
Antworten · 9
Happiness is more usually used.
16. Mai 2014
Yes, it's old-fashioned. I saw the word "felicity" the thing that popped into my mind was the line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, "absent thee from felicity awhile," written in 1600. Shakespeare's English is so old-fashioned that most native English speakers--if they are honest anyway!--would admit to having trouble understanding it. I'm not sure I have ever seen "felicity" used anywhere else. "Felicitous" is a little more common, but it is a somewhat "literary" word. It can mean "very nicely phrased" or "very appropriate."
16. Mai 2014
'Felicity' is not a normal everyday word at all in modern English. You might see it in a poem or text from several hundred years ago, but nobody would use it now. In fact I would guess that a large proportion of native speakers wouldn't even know what the word means. It is is girl's name, though.
16. Mai 2014
Haben Sie noch keine Antworten gefunden?
Geben Sie Ihre Fragen ein und lassen Sie sich von Muttersprachlern helfen!