ge|ni|al

gen|ial¹ «JEEN yuhl», adjective.

1. smiling and pleasant; cheerful and friendly; kindly: »

She was glad to see us again and gave us a genial welcome.

SYNONYM(S): jovial.

2. cheering; enlivening: »

I hail thy genial loved return (William Collins).

3. helping growth: »

The soil is not genial to them (Hawthorne).

4. pleasantly warming; comforting: »

a genial climate. ... a soft sunny morning in the genial month of May (Washington Irving).

5. Archaic. a) having to do with marriage; nuptial. b) having to do with generation; generative.

6. Archaic. of or characterized by genius: »

Great genial power, one would almost say, consists in not being original at all: in being altogether receptive (Emerson).

7. Obsolete. natural; innate: »

a theologue more by need than genial bent (John Dryden).

╂[< Latin geniālis, belonging to the genius (fostering spirit) < genius]

–gen´ial|ly, adverb.

–gen´ial|ness, noun.

ge|ni|al² «juh NY uhl», adjective.

Anatomy. of or having to do with the chin: »

t lower genial process.

╂[< Greek géneion chin (< génys jaw) + English -al¹]