fornøy

Fornøy is a Norwegian term that occurs primarily in historical or regional language contexts. In older sources it appears as a noun meaning pleasure, amusement, or gratification. In contemporary standard Norwegian the semantic field is expressed with fornøye as a verb meaning to entertain or please, and with fornøyelse as the noun for amusement or enjoyment. The adjective form corresponding to a state of satisfaction is fornøyd.

Origin and cognates: Fornøy belongs to a family of Scandinavian words built on a common root related to pleasing. Cognates include Danish fornøje (to please, to amuse) and fornøjelse (amusement), and Swedish förnöja (to please) and förnöjd (satisfied). These forms show the shared semantic core across Scandinavian languages. The Norwegian forms retain the ø/øy orthography typical of Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Usage and toponymy: Today fornøy is largely confined to philological discussion, historical literature, or dialect text. It is sometimes encountered in older poetry and in discussions of language history. As a proper noun, "Fornøy" may appear as a place name in some historical or dialectal maps, but in official sources it is not a widely recognized geographical designation.

See also: fornøye, fornøyelse, fornøyd.