Gezelligheid is a Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 abstract noun (adjective form gezellig) which, depending on context, can be translated as convivial, cosy, fun

Fun

Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure and, according to Johan Huizinga, "an absolutely primary category of life, familiar to everybody at a glance right down to the animal level." Fun may be encountered in many human activities during work, social functions, recreation and play, and even seemingly...

, quaint, or nice atmosphere, but can also connote belonging, time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness. The word is considered to be an example of untranslatability

Untranslatability

Untranslatability is a property of a text, or of any utterance, in one language, for which no equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language when translated....

, and is one of the hardest words to translate to English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. Some consider the word to encompass the heart of Dutch culture

Dutch culture

thumb|right|250px|[[Netherlandish Proverbs|Dutch proverbs]], by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]]. Dutch culture may refer to:* used more narrowly, the Culture of the Netherlands* used more widely Culture of Dutch-speaking Europe, including...

.

Etymology

The word derives from gezel which means companion or friend. During the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 a gezel was also the Dutch term for a journeyman

Journeyman

A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....

, which in the Dutch guild

Guild

A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

 system formed a group around a single Master craftsman

Master craftsman

A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....

; hence the added meaning of belonging.

Use

The adjective gezellig can be used in a wide variety of situations. For example;

• A room can be gezellig. (meaning cosy or inviting)
• A person can be gezellig. (meaning entertaining or pleasant)
• A party can be gezellig. (meaning fun)
• A visit to ones grandparents can be gezellig. (meaning togetherness)
• A set of curtains can be gezellig. (meaning pretty or nice).

Gezellig can also be used as an exclamation, in which can either carry the meanings described above or be used sarcastically

Sarcasm

Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...

 or ironically

Irony

Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...

.

Similar words

• The Danish
  Danish language
  Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
  
   word hygge ˈhyɡə) is very close in meaning. Etymologically, it is related to the Dutch word "heugen", meaning to make happy. However when used negatively marked differences become visible, as in Dutch ongezellig simply means not gezellig. In Danish however, uhyggelig means scary or nasty.

• The German term Gemütlichkeit
  Gemütlichkeit
  Gemütlichkeit is a German abstract noun that has been adopted into English. Its closest equivalent is the word "coziness"; however, rather than merely describing a place that is compact, well-heated and nicely furnished , Gemütlichkeit connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance,...
  
  (of which "gemoedelijkheid" is its Dutch cognate), invoking cosiness and comfort and which has also been adopted by the English language, covers some of the possible meanings of gezellig, but not all.