[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

jovial \jo"vial\, a. f., fr. l. jovialis pertaining to jove.
   the planet jupiter was thought to make those born under it
   joyful or jovial. see jove.
   1913 webster
   1. capitalized of or pertaining to the god, or the planet,
      jupiter. obs.
      1913 webster

            our jovial star reigned at his birth. --shak.
      1913 webster

            the fixed stars astrologically differenced by the
            planets, and esteemed martial or jovial according to
            the colors whereby they answer these planets. --sir
                                                  t. browne.
      1913 webster

   2. sunny; serene. obs. "the heavens always joviall."
      --spenser.
      1913 webster

   3. gay; merry; joyous; jolly; mirth-inspiring; hilarious;
      characterized by mirth or jollity; as, a jovial youth; a
      jovial company; a jovial poem.
      1913 webster

            be bright and jovial among your guests. --shak.
      1913 webster

            his odes are some of them panegyrical, others moral;
            the rest are jovial or bacchanalian.  --dryden.
      1913 webster

   note: this word is a relic of the belief in planetary
         influence. other examples are saturnine, mercurial,
         martial, lunatic, etc.

   syn: merry; joyous; gay; festive; mirthful; gleeful; jolly;
        hilarious.
        1913 webster
see also:
jove saturnine mercurial martial lunatic 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

jovial
     adj : full of or showing high-spirited merriment; "when hearts
           were young and gay"; "a poet could not but be gay, in
           such a jocund company"- wordsworth; "the jolly crowd at
           the reunion"; "jolly old saint nick"; "a jovial old
           gentleman"; "have a merry christmas"; "peals of merry
           laughter"; "a mirthful laugh" syn: gay, jocund, jolly,
            merry, mirthful
see also:
gay jocund jolly merry mirthful 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

42 moby thesaurus words for "jovial":
   affable, amiable, bantering, blithe, blithesome, boon, buxom,
   chaffing, convivial, facetious, festal, festive, free and easy,
   frivolous, gala, gay, genial, gladsome, gleeful, good-natured,
   hail-fellow-well-met, hearty, hilarious, humorous, jocose, jocular,
   jocund, jolly, jollying, joshing, joyful, joyous, laughter-loving,
   lighthearted, merry, merrymaking, mirth-loving, mirthful,
   on the loose, rejoicing, risible, sociable

[4] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

jovial
     
         jule's own version of ial a version of ial
        produced by jules i. schwartz in 1959-1960.  jovial was based
        on algol 58, with extensions for large scale real-time
        programming.  it saw extensive use by the us air force.  the
        data elements were items, entries records and tables.
     
        versions include jovial i ibm 709, 1960, jovial ii ibm
        7090, 1961 and jovial 3 1965.  dialects: j3, jovial
        j73, js, jts.
     
        ada/jovial newsletter, dale lange +1 513 255-4472.
     
        cacm 612:721, dec 1960.
     
        1996-07-19
     
     
see also:
ial algol 58 real-time record ibm 709 ibm 7090 
j3 jovial j73 js jts 

Jovial >> J Words
Jovial, definition of term: Jovial
jovial_pag1.html