joy vs excitement

joy and excitement both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
joy	Yes	No	Yes	No
excitement	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, excitement is a hyponym of joy; that is, excitement is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than joy:

joy (noun)	excitement (noun)
something or someone that provides a source of happiness	something that agitates and arouses
the emotion of great happiness	disturbance usually in protest
	the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
	the state of being emotionally aroused and worked up

joy (verb)	excitement (verb)
feel happiness or joy
make glad or happy