Library / English Dictionary

HUMOUR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous

Example:

you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor

Synonyms:

humor; humour; sense of humor; sense of humour

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("humour" is a kind of...):

fun; playfulness (a disposition to find (or make) causes for amusement)

Derivation:

humourist (someone who acts speaks or writes in an amusing way)

humourous (full of or characterized by humor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The quality of being funny

Example:

I fail to see the humor in it

Synonyms:

humor; humour

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("humour" is a kind of...):

quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "humour"):

comicality (the quality of being comical)

Derivation:

humourist (someone who acts speaks or writes in an amusing way)

humourous (full of or characterized by humor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The liquid parts of the body

Synonyms:

bodily fluid; body fluid; humor; humour; liquid body substance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("humour" is a kind of...):

body substance (the substance of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "humour"):

cerebrospinal fluid; spinal fluid (clear liquid produced in the ventricles of the brain; fills and protects cavities in the brain and spinal cord)

festering; ichor; purulence; pus; sanies; suppuration (a fluid product of inflammation)

lochia (substance discharged from the vagina (cellular debris and mucus and blood) that gradually decreases in amount during the weeks following childbirth)

choler; yellow bile (a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the liver and to cause irritability and anger)

black bile; melancholy (a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy)

secretion (a functionally specialized substance (especially one that is not a waste) released from a gland or cell)

ink (dark protective fluid ejected into the water by cuttlefish and other cephalopods)

come; cum; ejaculate; seed; semen; seminal fluid (the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract)

lymph (a thin coagulable fluid (similar to plasma but) containing white blood cells (lymphocytes) and chyle; is conveyed to the blood stream by lymphatic vessels)

chyle (a milky fluid consisting of lymph and emulsified fats; formed in the small intestine during digestion of ingested fats)

blood serum; serum (an amber, watery fluid, rich in proteins, that separates out when blood coagulates)

aqueous humor; aqueous humour (the limpid fluid within the eyeball between the cornea and the lens)

vitreous body; vitreous humor; vitreous humour (the clear colorless transparent jelly that fills the posterior chamber of the eyeball)

endolymph (the bodily fluid that fills the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear)

perilymph (the bodily fluid that fills the space between the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear)

ECF; extracellular fluid (liquid containing proteins and electrolytes including the liquid in blood plasma and interstitial fluid)

intracellular fluid (liquid contained inside the cell membranes (usually containing dissolved solutes))

juice; succus (any of several liquids of the body)

karyolymph (a clear liquid in the cell nucleus in which the nucleolus and chromatin and other structures are dispersed)

milk (produced by mammary glands of female mammals for feeding their young)

amnionic fluid; amniotic fluid; waters (the serous fluid in which the embryo is suspended inside the amnion)

blood (the fluid (red in vertebrates) that is pumped through the body by the heart and contains plasma, blood cells, and platelets)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state

Example:

the humors are blood and phlegm and yellow and black bile

Synonyms:

humor; humour

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("humour" is a kind of...):

body substance (the substance of the body)

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

antiquity (the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe)

Dark Ages; Middle Ages (the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter

Synonyms:

humor; humour; wit; witticism; wittiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("humour" is a kind of...):

content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)

Domain member category:

couth ((used facetiously) refinement)

couth ((used facetiously) refined and well-mannered)

Domain member usage:

libation ((facetious) a serving of an alcoholic beverage)

roaster (a harsh or humorous critic (sometimes intended as a facetious compliment))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "humour"):

topper (an exceedingly good witticism that surpasses all that have gone before)

ribaldry (ribald humor)

fun; play; sport (verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously))

cartoon; sketch (a humorous or satirical drawing published in a newspaper or magazine)

caricature; imitation; impersonation (a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect)

gag; jape; jest; joke; laugh (a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter)

repartee (adroitness and cleverness in reply)

caustic remark; irony; sarcasm; satire (witty language used to convey insults or scorn)

bite; pungency (wit having a sharp and caustic quality)

esprit de l'escalier (a witty remark that occurs to you too late)

bon mot; mot (a clever remark)

jeu d'esprit (a witty comment or writing)

Derivation:

humourist (someone who acts speaks or writes in an amusing way)

humourous (full of or characterized by humor)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling

Example:

he was in a bad humor

Synonyms:

humor; humour; mood; temper

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("humour" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "humour"):

peeve (an annoyed or irritated mood)

sulk; sulkiness (a mood or display of sullen aloofness or withdrawal)

amiability; good humor; good humour; good temper (a cheerful and agreeable mood)

distemper; ill humor; ill humour (an angry and disagreeable mood)

Derivation:

humour (put into a good mood)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put into a good mood

Synonyms:

humor; humour

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "humour" is one way to...):

gratify; indulge; pander (yield (to); give satisfaction to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

humour (a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling)

Credits

 Context examples: 

After a short silence—“I hope, my Catherine, you are not getting out of humour with home because it is not so grand as Northanger.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

When he laughs it is from a humour that is nothing else than ferocious.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I humoured him: the watch ticked on: he breathed fast and low: I stood silent.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The very mention of anything concerning the match threw her into an agony of ill-humour, and wherever she went she was sure of hearing it talked of.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“It was his humour,” said he.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His jaws slightly parted, his lips lifted a little, and a quizzical expression that was more love than humour came into his eyes.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

We shall soon improve our youthful humours.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Mrs. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, anxious look upon her face.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The ciliary muscle is innervated by both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems and acts to control the flow of aqueous humour into Schlemm's canal and changes the shape of the eye lens.

(Ciliary Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)

What qualifications were necessary in those who are to be created new lords: whether the humour of the prince, a sum of money to a court lady, or a design of strengthening a party opposite to the public interest, ever happened to be the motive in those advancements?

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)