Meaning of "humour" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD HUMOUR

From Latin humor liquid; related to Latin ūmēre to be wet, Old Norse vökr moist, Greek hugros wet.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF HUMOUR

humour  [ˈhjuːmə]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF HUMOUR

Humour is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb humour in English.

WHAT DOES HUMOUR MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Humour

Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours, controlled human health and emotion. People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—i.e., to be amused, to smile or laugh at something funny—and thus are considered to have a sense of humour. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour induced by humour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence and context. For example, young children may favour slapstick such as Punch and Judy puppet shows or cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, whose purely physical nature makes it more accessible to them.

Definition of humour in the English dictionary

The first definition of humour in the dictionary is the quality of being funny. Other definition of humour is Also called: sense of humour. the ability to appreciate or express that which is humorous. Humour is also situations, speech, or writings that are thought to be humorous.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO HUMOUR

PRESENT

Present

I humour

you humour

he/she/it humours

we humour

you humour

they humour

Present continuous

I am humouring

you are humouring

he/she/it is humouring

we are humouring

you are humouring

they are humouring

Present perfect

I have humoured

you have humoured

he/she/it has humoured

we have humoured

you have humoured

they have humoured

Present perfect continuous

I have been humouring

you have been humouring

he/she/it has been humouring

we have been humouring

you have been humouring

they have been humouring

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I humoured

you humoured

he/she/it humoured

we humoured

you humoured

they humoured

Past continuous

I was humouring

you were humouring

he/she/it was humouring

we were humouring

you were humouring

they were humouring

Past perfect

I had humoured

you had humoured

he/she/it had humoured

we had humoured

you had humoured

they had humoured

Past perfect continuous

I had been humouring

you had been humouring

he/she/it had been humouring

we had been humouring

you had been humouring

they had been humouring

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will humour

you will humour

he/she/it will humour

we will humour

you will humour

they will humour

Future continuous

I will be humouring

you will be humouring

he/she/it will be humouring

we will be humouring

you will be humouring

they will be humouring

Future perfect

I will have humoured

you will have humoured

he/she/it will have humoured

we will have humoured

you will have humoured

they will have humoured

Future perfect continuous

I will have been humouring

you will have been humouring

he/she/it will have been humouring

we will have been humouring

you will have been humouring

they will have been humouring

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would humour

you would humour

he/she/it would humour

we would humour

you would humour

they would humour

Conditional continuous

I would be humouring

you would be humouring

he/she/it would be humouring

we would be humouring

you would be humouring

they would be humouring

Conditional perfect

I would have humour

you would have humour

he/she/it would have humour

we would have humour

you would have humour

they would have humour

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been humouring

you would have been humouring

he/she/it would have been humouring

we would have been humouring

you would have been humouring

they would have been humouring

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you humour
we let´s humour
you humour

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to humour

Past participle

humoured

Present Participle

humouring

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «HUMOUR»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «humour» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of humour

accommodate · amusement · bent · bias · comedy · cosset · disposition · drollery · facetiousness · fancy · farce · flatter · frame of mind · freak · fun · funniness · gratify · indulge · jesting · jocularity · joking · ludicrousness · mollify · mood · pamper · pleasantry · propensity · quirk · spirits · spoil · temper · vagary · whim · wit · wittiness

TRANSLATION OF HUMOUR

Find out the translation of humour to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of humour from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «humour» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 幽默
• Translator English - Spanish: humor
• English: humour
• Translator English - Hindi: हास्य
• Translator English - Arabic: دُعَابَةٌ
• Translator English - Russian: юмор
• Translator English - Portuguese: humor
• Translator English - Bengali: মেজাজ
• Translator English - French: humour
• Translator English - Malay: Humor
• Translator English - German: Humor
• Translator English - Japanese: ユーモア
• Translator English - Korean: 유머
• Translator English - Javanese: Humor
• Translator English - Vietnamese: sự hài hước
• Translator English - Tamil: நகைச்சுவை
• Translator English - Marathi: विनोद
• Translator English - Turkish: mizah
• Translator English - Italian: umorismo
• Translator English - Polish: humor
• Translator English - Ukrainian: гумор
• Translator English - Romanian: umor
• Translator English - Greek: χιούμορ
• Translator English - Afrikaans: humor
• Translator English - Swedish: humor
• Translator English - Norwegian: humor

10 QUOTES WITH «HUMOUR»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word humour.

1

Jennifer Aniston

My parents' divorce left me with a lot of sadness and pain and acting, and especially humour, was my way of dealing with all that.

2

Kelley Armstrong

The first piece of 'long' fiction I wrote was a novella parody of Stephen King's 'Christine.' I was in high school, and my version was about a kid with a possessed locker instead of a possessed car. It was also my first attempt at humour, which fell completely flat because no one who read it realized it was a parody!

3

Richard Ayoade

I like Roy Orbison's video for 'I Drove All Night' because it's so literal. It is just a man driving throughout the night. I like that silliness. To be in a video is a ridiculous thing. It's almost impossible to do it without any humour.

4

Clare Balding

The most important quality in a partner is a sense of humour.

5

John Barrowman

The one thing that makes 'Torchwood' work so brilliantly and makes it a little bit above the rest of all other sci-fi dramas out there is that we have a sense of humour.

6

Samantha Bond

'Downton' is one of the best jobs in the world, and I'm looking forward to the next series for Maggie Smith's wicked sense of humour.

7

Jo Brand

I think the key attributes for a good speaker are someone that's articulate and someone that puts a fair amount of humour into what they do.

8

Steve Carell

My wife is way funnier than I am. As much as I don't really feel I share a sense of humour with my family, I definitely share one with her - we find the same things funny.

9

Jasper Carrott

I used to be a columnist for 'Golf Monthly' and have contributed articles for national newspapers based on the humour that is in abundance in the game, which is more than can be said of tennis.

10

Wendy Cope

The interesting thing is that you don't often meet a poet who doesn't have a sense of humour, and some of them do keep it out of their poems because they're afraid of being seen as light versifiers.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «HUMOUR»

Discover the use of humour in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to humour and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Humour and History

Aristotle felt that laughter was a distinctive trait of humanity and one that distinguished humans from the animals. On the other hand, the very existence of human beings could be considered a 'joke'.

Keith Cameron, 1993

On Humour

On Humour is a fascinating, beautifully written and funny book on what humour can tell us about being human. Simon Critchley skilfully probes some of the most perennial but least understood aspects of humour: why is it that we mock death ...

Simon Critchley, 2002

Humour and laughter: theory, research and applications

This volume draws together the main empirical work done over the course of the twentieth century.

Anthony J. Chapman, Hugh C. Foot, 1996

Humour and Social Protest

The seventeen essays in this 2008 book examine the power of humour in framing social and political protest.

Marjolein t'Hart, Dennis Bos, 2007

The Pragmatics of Humour Across Discourse Domains

Brings together a range of contributions on the linguistics of humour.

Marta Dynel, 2011

Every Man Out of His Humour

"Every Man Out of His Humour" is the companion play to the highly successful "Every Man in His Humour," which was produced by and starred William Shakespeare. This comedy of humors, much like its prequel, is a satire of English society.

Ben Jonson, 2004

Hybrid Humour: Comedy in Transcultural Perspectives

Graeme Dunphy is lecturer in English at Regensburg University, Germany. His interests include Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands, Literature, Medieval Studies, Historical Linguistics, and Migration Studies.

R. Graeme Dunphy, Rainer Emig, 2010

Taking Humour Seriously

In Taking Humour Seriously, Jerry Palmer argues that we must take humour seriously (as well as humorously) or fail to understand a fundamental element of culture. Taking Humour Seriously unravels humour's multi-dimensional nature.

Mr Jerry Palmer, Jerry Palmer, 1993

Ruskin Bond's Book of Humour

Marked By The Signature Charm And Subtle Wit Of One Of India&Rsquo;S Best-Loved Writers, Ruskin Bond&Rsquo;S Book Of Humour, Will Make Even The Hardened Among Us Crack A Smile.

Ruskin Bond, 2008

English Humour

English Humour Originally published in 1929 as part of the English Heritage Series, this is a fascinating book charting the progression of English humour - from great writers to great illustrators.

J. B. Priestley, 2006

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «HUMOUR»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term humour is used in the context of the following news items.

$10,000 prize for humour writing | The Australian Jewish News

Bernard Cohen's novel The Antibiography of Robert F. Menzies, published in 2013 by HarperCollins, has won a $10,000 prize for humour ... «Australian Jewish News, Jul 15»

Ben Affleck's heartbreak humour - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actor made a surprise appearance at the ceremony on Wednesday night. And in the aftermath of the ... «Belfast Telegraph, Jul 15»

Humour, science fiction, children's activities part of this year's festival

Mixing several fun and thought-provoking readings and presentations, the Leacock Summer Festival will take centre stage in the city later this ... «Orillia Packet & Times, Jul 15»

Master of Art, Humour & Political Insight at News Aboriginal Art …

2015 Archibald finalist Adam (aka Black Douglas) Hill has talked about the subject of his entry, Smoke and mirrors Uncle Max Euloas having, ... «Aboriginal Art Directory News, Jul 15»

Ben Affleck's heartbreak humour

The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actor made a surprise appearance at the ceremony on Wednesday night. And in the aftermath of the ... «Film News, Jul 15»

John Doyle: Toronto's Dead Raccoon reveals dark side of Canadian …

The Canadian sense of humour is vastly underrated. In the official narrative, anyway. Sometimes I think it is seriously misunderstood. We are ... «The Globe and Mail, Jul 15»

AIB's Unoffended: Arnab Goswami finds a sense of humour

We never, ever, ever thought we would live to see the day when Arnab Goswami would tell you to 'just chill'. And the fact that he's never ... «Hindustan Times, Jul 15»

Jazz age mixed with humour

Paul Gunn Company comes to The Eastbourne Festival this evening - Friday July 17 - upstairs at The Crown and Anchor, on Marine Parade. «Eastbourne Herald, Jul 15»

The Diary: toilet humour and time for T?

Toilet humour. OUR tales of toilets remind Eric Hudson, one-time boss of religious broadcasting at STV: "I was with the STV crew at Edinburgh ... «Herald Scotland, Jul 15»

How Scottish town of Stirling reacted with dry humour to one burst …

At least one cafe was forced to close this morning, as a burst water main brought mild inconvenience to the Scottish town of Stirling. «The Independent, Jul 15»