beatitude

/biˌædəˈtud/

/biˈætətud/

Other forms: beatitudes

If you're extraordinarily happy, you might describe what you're feeling as beatitude. The noun beatitude refers to a state of great joy. Being blessed, or at least feeling blessed, is often linked to beatitude.

Beatitude inherited its blessedness from the Latin word beatus, meaning both "happy" and "blessed." In the Bible, the Beatitudes are a series of eight blessings, such as "Blessed are those poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And in 1958 writer Jack Kerouac coined the term "The Beat Generation" because he felt its members were seeking beatitude.

Definitions of beatitude

1. noun

   a state of supreme happiness
   synonyms: beatification, blessedness

   types:

   enlightenment, nirvana

   (Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness

   type of:

   felicity, happiness

   state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy