comes from the Greek for "wittiness" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εὐτραπελία) and refers to pleasantness in conversation, with ease and a good sense of humor. It is one of Aristotle's virtues, being the "golden mean" between boorishness (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀγροικία) and buffoonery (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βωμολοχία).[1]
Construed narrowly, is associated with an emotion in the same manner modesty and righteousness are associated with emotion; while it is not tied to any particular emotion when construed in wider terms, and is classified with truthfulness, friendliness, and dignity in the category of mean-dispositions that cannot be called .[2]
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), viewed in a positive light, again, favoring the ancient Aristotelian notion that it is constituted by mental relaxation and honorable fun.[3] In the Summa Theologica, Aquinas made it the virtue of moderation in relation to jesting.
By the second half of thirteenth century, the concept was considered a state of judicious pleasure and returned to being considered a virtue by commentators.[4]
The term, eutrapely, is derived from and, since 1596, shares the original meaning of wittiness in conversations.[5]