Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “humorous” come from?

Humorous comes from Middle English humorous, meaning having the qualities of humor or wit.

humorous (English): Full of humor or arousing laughter; funny;...

Definitions

  1. Full of humor or arousing laughter; funny;...

Ancestry of “humorous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhumorUS spelling of humour
2GermanHumorhumor
3Latinhumorliquid, fluid, humour; first-person singular...
4Latinumorliquid, fluid, humour; moisture
5Latin-orused to form a third-declension masculine...
6Proto-Italic-ōsCreates masculine action nouns or result nouns...
7Proto-Indo-European-ōsCreates masculine and feminine action nouns or...
8Proto-Indo-European-oss—
9Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “humorous”

  • humorously
  • nonhumorous
  • humorousness
  • unhumorous
  • unhumorously
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →