jollyjolly

The story

For the loss of final -f in English, compare tardy, hasty, hussy, etc. It is uncertain whether the Old French word is from Old Norse jól ("a midwinter feast, Yule", hence "fest-ive"), in which case, equivalent to yule + -ive, compare Dutch jolig (‘happy, festive, frolicsome, jolly’), West Frisian joelich, joalich (‘merry, jolly’), Middle High German jœlich (‘hooting, jubilant’).1uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Alternatively, the Old French adjective has been conjectured to derive from a Vulgar Latin *gaudivus (from Latin gaudeō, more at joy), in which case it would require Early Old French ⟨d⟩ /ð/ to irregularly become ⟨l⟩ in jolif rather than being dropped, which is the usual case (alternatively, /l/ may be a hiatus filler inserted into expected *joïf).2disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. A possible parallel of ⟨d⟩ to ⟨l⟩ can be seen in the French name Valois, according to one hypothesis from Latin Vadensis, though this origin is itself uncertain and disputed.3disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.