An older spelling of gaiety; the quality of being happy, cheerful, lighthearted, or festive.
From Old French gaieté, from gai meaning 'happy.' This spelling was standard in English before the 19th century when 'gaiety' became more common, though both forms coexisted.
Spelling this as 'gayety' versus 'gaiety' tells you which era a book was written in—it's a perfect linguistic time marker. Jane Austen and her contemporaries used 'gayety,' but the extra 'i' gradually became standard.
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