Bonny, a. [Spelled bonnie by the Scotch.]
Etymology: [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
1. Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. Till bonny Susan sped across the plain. Gay. Far from the bonnie banks of Ayr. Burns.
2. Gay; merry; frolicsome; cheerful; blithe. Be you blithe and bonny. Shak. Report speaks you a bonny monk, that would hear the matiSir W. Scott.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Bonny, n. (Mining)
A round and compact bed of ore, or a distinct bed, not communicating with a vein.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for bonny; he lists it under beautiful.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.