Where does “humour” come from?
Humour comes from French humeur, from Latin umor meaning moisture or liquid, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots related to flowing and earth.
humour (English): The quality of being amusing, comical, funny; A...
Definitions
- The quality of being amusing, comical, funny; A...
Ancestry of “humour”, step by step
humour traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English humour
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | humour | A "cardinal humour"; A bodily liquid or substance... |
| 2 | Old French | humor | humor one of four fluids that were believed to control the health and mood of the human body |
| 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;... |
via German Humor
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Humor | humor (something funny) |