humour means the quality of being amusing, comical, funny.
humour is pronounced /ˈhjuː.mə(ɹ)/.
Why “humour” is a great word
A quality of amusement or comicality, and a mood or passing state of mind, originally a term for any bodily fluid. From Middle English humour, from Old French humor, from Latin ūmor ("liquid, moisture"), from ūmeō ("to be moist"); the silent 'h' in the Latin forms is a later folk-etymological insertion from association with humus ("soil"). The semantic shift from "liquid" to "mood" and then to "amusement" arose from the ancient physiological theory of the four bodily humours governing health and disposition. Unlike "wit" (which prizes intellectual sharpness) or "temper" (which suggests a fixed disposition), humour is a broader, more mercurial quality. It is the body's deep, damp history made light: the splat of a custard pie, the slow deflation of a pompous idea, the silent, shared glance across a crowded room that makes the unbearable bearable—a profound acknowledgment that we are, and always were, a precarious chemistry of fluids seeking equilibrium.
Etymology
From Middle English humour, from Old French humor, humour, from Latin hūmor, correctly ūmor (“liquid”), from hūmeō, correctly ūmeō (“to be moist”). The h in these words, which was silent in late Classical Latin, is folk etymological, due to the erroneous association with the word humus (“soil”).
The shift in meaning "liquid" > "mood" is attributed to the classical system of physiology, where human behaviour is regulated by four bodily humours (fluids). The sense "mood" gave rise to the verb sense "to give in to someone's mood or whim" and, by narrowing of meaning, the sense "wit".
noun
- The quality of being amusing, comical, funny.“She has a great sense of humour, and I always laugh a lot whenever we get together.”
- A mood, especially a bad mood; a temporary state of mind or disposition brought upon by an event; an abrupt illogical inclination or whim.“He was in a particularly vile humour that afternoon.”
- Any of the fluids in an animal body, especially the four "cardinal humours" of blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm that were believed to control the health and mood of the human body.“A humour is a liquid or fluent part of the body, comprehended in it, for the preservation of it; and is either innate or born with us, or adventitious and acquisite.”
- Either of the two regions of liquid within the eyeball, the aqueous humour and vitreous humour.
- Moist vapour, moisture.
verb
- To pacify by indulging.“I know you don't believe my story, but humour me for a minute and imagine it to be true.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- mirth 86% match — The emotion usually following humor and accompanied by laughter. vs humour →
- jollity 84% match — The state of being jolly; jolliness, cheerfulness. vs humour →
- laughter 84% match — The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound. vs humour →
- ribaldry 83% match — Joking or humorous language or behaviour used in a vulgar or lewd fashion. vs humour →
- ridicule 83% match — To criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of. vs humour →
- drollery 83% match — Comical quality. vs humour →
- farce 83% match — A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities with little regard to regularity or method. vs humour →
- levity 82% match — A lightness of manner or speech, frivolity; flippancy; a lack of appropriate seriousness; an inclination to make a joke of serious matters. vs humour →