Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Merry

Merry , adjective

[Old English merie, mirie, murie, merry, pleasant, Anglo-Saxon merge, myrige, pleasant; compare murge, adv.; prob. akin to Old High German murg, short, Gothic gamaúrgjan to shorten; compare Latin murcus a coward, who cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of making the time seem short. Compare Mirth.]

1.
Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; sportive.
They drank, and were merry with him. — Gen. xliii. 34
I am never merry when I hear sweet music. — Shakespeare
2.
Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy.
Is any merry? let him sing psalms. — Jas. v. 13
3.
Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight; as, a merry jest.
Merry wind and weather. — Spenser
His merie men commanded he To make him bothe game and glee. — Chaucer

Merry (mer"ry) , noun

(Botany) A kind of wild red cherry.