humour

humour
\ \ [14] Latin hūmēre meant ‘be moist’ (from it was derived hūmidus, source of English humid [16]). And related to it was the noun hūmor, which signified originally simply ‘liquid’. In due course it came to be applied specifically to any of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler, and black bile) whose combinations according to medieval theories of physiology determined a person’s general health and temperament. This was the sense in which English acquired the word, via Anglo-Norman humour, and it gradually developed in meaning via ‘mental disposition at a particular time, mood’ and ‘inclination, whim’ to, in the late 17th century, the main modern sense ‘funniness’.
\ \ Cf.⇒ HUMID

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • HUMOUR — Le concept d’humour, dont le champ d’application s’est considérablement élargi depuis son utilisation dans la littérature anglaise des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, n’a pas pour autant subi de multiples variations sémantiques ni cessé de se rattacher… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • humour — (US humor) ► NOUN 1) the quality of being amusing or comic. 2) a state of mind: her good humour vanished. 3) (also cardinal humour) historical each of four fluids of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile or choler, and black bile or melancholy),… …   English terms dictionary

  • humour — chiefly Brit var of HUMOR * * * n. a body fluid. See aqueous humour, vitreous humour …   Medical dictionary

  • humour — n. same as {humor}. [Chiefly Brit.] [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • humour — / hju:mə/, it. / jumor/ s. ingl. [voce di origine normanna, propr. umore ], usato in ital. al masch. [capacità di cogliere gli aspetti comici o paradossali della vita: il caratteristico h. degli inglesi ] ▶◀ arguzia, ironia, sagacia, spirito,… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • humour — chiefly British English spelling of HUMOR (Cf. humor); see OR (Cf. or). Related: Humourous; humourist …   Etymology dictionary

  • humour — /ˈjumor, ingl. ˈhjuːməu(r)/ [ant. fr. (h)umor, dal lat. (h)umōre(m) «umore»] s. m. inv. senso dell umorismo, spirito □ umorismo, comicità …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • humour — is spelt our in BrE and humor in AmE, and the same distinction applies to the derivative humourless / humorless. Humorous and humorist, however, are spelt the same way in both varieties …   Modern English usage

  • humour — [hyo͞o′mər] n., vt. Brit. sp. of HUMOR …   English World dictionary

  • Humour — Sourire peut impliquer un sens d humour et une émotion d amusement, comme le démontre le personnage de Falstaff d Eduard von Grützner. L humour, au sens large, est une forme d esprit railleuse « qui s attache à souligner le caractère …   Wikipédia en Français

  • humour — /hyooh meuhr/, n., v.t., Chiefly Brit. humor. Usage. See or1. * * * I (Latin; fluid ) In early Western physiological theory, one of the four body fluids thought to determine a person s temperament and features. As hypothesized by Galen, the four… …   Universalium

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