Added 9 October 2026
laughter
/ˈlɑːftə/ noun
In Latin: rīsus, cachinnus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about laughter at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.
Their loud laughter betrayed their presence.
- A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the laughing face, particularly of the lips, and of the whole body, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs.
- A reason for merriment.
Origin
From Middle English laughter, laghter, laȝter, from Old English hleahtor (“laughter, jubilation, derision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (“laughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Cognate with German Gelächter (“laughter, hilarity, merriment”), Danish and Norwegian latter (“laughter”), Icelandic hlátur (“laughter”). More at laugh.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)