laughter

English

Alternative forms

• laughtre (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English hleahtor (“laughter, jubilation, derision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (“laughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Cognate with German Gelächter (“laughter, hilarity, merriment”), Danish and Norwegian latter (“laughter”), Icelandic hlátur (“laughter”). More at laugh.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈlɑːftə/, X-SAMPA: /"lA:ft@/
• (US) enPR: lăfʹtər, IPA: /ˈlæftɚ/, X-SAMPA: /"l{ft@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːftə(r)

Noun

Wikipedia laughter (usually uncountable; plural laughters)

1. The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.

   Their loud laughter betrayed their presence

2. A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the laughing face, particularly of the lips, and of the whole body, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs.

   • The act of laughter, which is a sweet contraction of the muscles of the face, and a pleasant agitation of the vocal organs, is not merely, or totally within the jurisdiction of ourselves. - Sir Thomas Browne
   • Archly the maiden smiled, and with eyes overrunning with laughter - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

3. (archaic) A reason for merriment

Related terms

• laugh

Translations

sound (as) of laughing

• Arabic: ضحك (ar) (DáHik, DiHk) m
• Armenian: քրքիջ (hy) (k'rk'iǰ), ծիծաղ (hy) (çiçaġ)
• Aromanian: arãs (rup)
• Catalan: riure (ca), rialla (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 笑聲 (cmn), 笑声 (cmn) (xiàoshēng), (onomatopoeic) 嘿嘿 (cmn) (hēihēi)

• Czech: smích (cs) m
• Danish: latter (da) c
• Dutch: gelach (nl) n
• Finnish: nauru (fi)
• French: rire (fr) m
• Friulian: ridade, ridi
• Georgian: სიცილი (ka) (sitsili)
• German: Gelächter (de) n, Lachen (de) n
• Greek: γέλιο (el) (gélio) n
• Irish: gáire (ga) m
• Italian: risata (it) f, riso (it) m

• Japanese: 笑い声 (ja) (わらいごえ, waraigoe), 笑い (ja) (わらい, warai)
• Macedonian: смеа (mk) (sméa) f
• Navajo: dloh
• Norwegian: latter (no)
• Occitan: ris (oc), risada (oc)
• Persian: خنده (fa) (xande)
• Portuguese: risada (pt) f, risos (pt) m
• Romanian: râs (ro) n, râset (ro)
• Romansch: riez (rm), riöz (rm), riem (rm), risada (rm), risaglia (rm)
• Russian: смех (ru) (smex) m, хохот (ru) (xóxot) m
• Sardinian: risida (sc)
• Scottish Gaelic: gàire (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian: smijȇh (sh) m, hȉhōt (sh) m
• Slovak: smiech (sk) m
• Spanish: risa (es)
• Swedish: skratt (sv) n
• Turkish: kahkaha (tr), gülüş (tr)

movement of the muscles of the laughing face

• Armenian: ծիծաղ (hy) (çiçaġ), քրքիջ (hy) (k'rk'iǰ)
• Catalan: rialla (ca) f, riure (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 笑 (cmn) (xiào)

• Czech: smích (cs) m
• Danish: grin (da) n
• Dutch: gelach (nl) n, lachen (nl) n
• Finnish: nauru (fi)
• French: rire (fr) m
• German: Gelächter (de) n, Lachen (de) n
• Greek: γέλιο (el) (gélio) n
• Hungarian: nevetés (hu)

• Irish: gáire (ga) m
• Italian: risata (it) f
• Japanese: 笑い (ja) (わらい, warai)
• Lao: ສຽງຫົວ (lo) (siang-hua)
• Macedonian: смеа (mk) (sméa) f
• Navajo: dloh
• Polish: śmiech (pl) m
• Russian: смех (ru) (smex) m
• Scottish Gaelic: gàire (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian: smijȇh (sh) m
• Swedish: skratt (sv) n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: lag, gelag
• Albanian: gaz m
• Breton: c'hoarzh m -où
• Bulgarian: смях m (1)
• Catalan: rialla f, riure m
• Serbo-Croatian: smijeh m
• Esperanto: ridado
• Guaraní: puka
• Icelandic: hlátur m

• Interlingua: riso
• Kurdish: ken (ku) m (1,2), kenîn (ku) f (1,2), پێکه‌نین, قاقاو پێکه‌نین
• Latin: risus m
• Portuguese: riso n
• Romanian: râs n
• Spanish: risa f
• Tupinambá: puká
• Vietnamese: tiếng cười