Where does “humorless” come from?
Humorless derives from English humor, from Latin humor meaning moisture or bodily fluid, from the Latin agentive suffix -or and Proto-Indo-European wegʷ- meaning to be wet and dʰéǵʰōm meaning earth or ground.
humorless (English): Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny,...
Definitions
- Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny,...
Ancestry of “humorless”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | humor | US spelling of humour |
| 2 | German | Humor | humor (something funny) |
| 3 | Latin | humor | liquid, fluid, humour; first-person singular... |
| 4 | Latin | umor | liquid, fluid, humour; moisture |
| 5 | Latin | -or | used to form a third-declension masculine... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -ōs | Creates masculine action nouns or result nouns... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōs | Creates masculine and feminine action nouns or... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -oss | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |