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Hygge Coziness for Your Peaceful, Quiet Holiday Season – What Does it Mean?

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Hygge is Not Something You Buy – it is More a FEELING Than a Possession

Hygge, pronounced (Hue-gah) is a Danish word originally derived from an Old Norwegian word meaning well-being and protection from the outside elements. Denmark has notoriously cold, long winters. The concept of hygge has been used by Danish people to help mentally combat the brutally dark, relentless winter season and fill their homes with comfort and love.

Hygge is a word that is so important to Danish people; it’s often used to describe what their culture is all about. Hygge is not necessarily something specific that you can buy, because it’s more of a feeling than a possession.

Hygge really is the epitome of Danish living, and in the last five years the concept of hygge has made its way to the US and many other countries with extreme popularity and trendiness.

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Hygge Is Perfect For A Cozy Holiday Season This Year

Hygge can widely be described as a feeling of coziness, comfort, familiarity, friendship, laughter and seasonal homemade food and drinks. Although it’s possible to achieve hygge any time of the year (an outdoor BBQ with friends or a movie under the stars with family are perfectly good examples of summertime hygge).

Hygge is generally associated with the colder months because if it’s ability to uplift spirits during dark, long winter months. Hygge is perfect for the upcoming holiday season because it’s all about peaceful, cozy surroundings that fill you with the feeling of contentment.

Below are a few more detailed explanations to help you understand and celebrate a perfect peaceful, cozy and comfortable Holiday Season for yourself and your family this year:

Hygge (/ˈh(j)uːɡə/; Danish: [ˈhykə]; Norwegian: [ˈhŷɡːə]) is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. As a cultural category with its sets of associated practices hygge has more or less the same meanings in Danish and Norwegian, but the notion is more central in Denmark than in Norway.[1] The emphasis on hygge as a core part of Danish culture is a recent phenomenon, dating to the late 20th century.

The word hygge comes from a Danish word meaning “to give courage, comfort, joy”.[2] Hygge stems from hyggja which means to think in Old Norse.[2] Hygge is built from the Old Norse word hugr which later became the hug which means the soul, mind, consciousness.[3]

But it is also speculated that hygge might originate from the word hug. Hug comes from the 1560s word hugge, which means “to embrace”. The word hugge is of unknown origin but is highly associated with an Old Norse term, hygga, which means “to comfort”, which comes from the word hugr, meaning “mood”. In turn, the word comes from the Germanic word hugyan, which is a cognate of the Old English hycgan, meaning “to think, consider”.[4]

It first appeared in Danish writing in the 19th century and has since evolved into the cultural idea known in Denmark and Norway today.[5] While hygge has exactly the same meaning in Norwegian as in Danish and is a widely used word in both Norway and Denmark (including in its derived forms, such as hyggelig), the emphasis specifically on “hygge” as an important part of their cultural identity is mostly a recent Danish phenomenon; in Norway “hygge” is just a word, similar in status to “cozy” in English-speaking countries.

In both Danish and Norwegian, hygge refers to “a form of everyday togetherness”, “a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow”.[6]

The noun hygge includes something nice, cozy, safe and known, referring to a psychological state.[7] The Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen has studied the positive effect of “hygge” on Danish society.[8]

Collins English Dictionary defines the word as “a concept, originating in Denmark, of creating cosy and convivial atmospheres that promote wellbeing.”[9]

Collins English Dictionary named hygge the runner-up (after “Brexit“) as word of the year in the UK in 2016.[9] This followed a period during which several books focusing on hygge had been marketed in the UK,[10] such as The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking,[11] Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness by Marie Tourell Søderberg,[12] and The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Living Well by Louisa Thomsen Brits.[13]

The concept of Hygge gained popularity with an international audience in late 2017, resulting in an increase of online searches and the rise of the hashtag Hygge on Instagram. [14]In Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, you can even go on a Hygge & Happiness walking tour.[15]

In the Broadway musical Frozen, there is a song called ‘Hygge’, which is all about being comfortable, happy, and together.

In Australian soap opera Neighbours, Jemima Davies-Smythe incorporates hygge into a redesign of her half-brother Karl Kennedy‘s living room.

Similar words

  • The Dutch word gezelligheid has a similar concept to hygge with both pertaining to comfort and cosiness, but is often more socially oriented.
  • In German Gemütlichkeit means the state of warmth, friendliness and belonging.
  • The Norwegian adjective koselig is used to describe a feeling of warmth, intimacy and getting together in an agreeable environment.
  • The Swedish adjective mysig (and its associated noun mys) describes a pleasant and warm atmosphere of togetherness in a pleasant setting.
  • The Japanese adjective/verb mattari has a similar meaning to be/have a comfortable, calm and pleasant time, but it is also applicable to a situation being alone.
  1. By Mie, Copenhagen. “Hygge & Happiness tour”. copenhagenbymie.com. Retrieved 2020-09-27.