[ad. L. alacritāt-em, n. of quality f. alacer brisk (also in It. alacrità): see -TY.] Briskness, cheerful readiness, liveliness, promptitude, sprightliness.
c. 1510. More, Picus, Wks. 1557, 8/1. That meruelouse alacritee languished.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 73. I haue not that alacrity of spirit, Nor cheere of Minde that I was wont to haue.
1687. T. Brown, Saints in Uproar, Wks. 1730, I. 79. With what wonderful alacrity you scamper’d over the Alps.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 34, ¶ 2. It immediately gives an Alacrity to the Visage and new Grace to the whole Person.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, V. 145. She wing’d him with alacrity divine.
1820. Scott, Monast., xv. 98. He accepted with grateful alacrity.
