Etymologically
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humorous

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈhjuːməɹəs/[1]
  • US: /ˈhjuːməɹəs/[1]

Etymology

The OED takes it as partly borrowed from Middle French humereux, also humoureux (“moist, humid; caused by humours”), partly its source Late Latin humorosus (“moist, wet; of the bodily humours”), formed from hūmor and -ōsus, and in later use partly formed from humour and -ous.[2] Merriam-Webster derives it from the Middle French adjective,[3] Klein from the Latin one,[4] and Etymonline calls it an English formation from humor, or else from Medieval Latin.[5] Dictionary.com and the Shorter Oxford derive it only from the English noun and suffix.[6][7] The OED compares Spanish humoroso, Portuguese humoroso and Italian umoroso.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In ancient and medieval medicine, relating to the bodily humours: before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[2][5] The OED notes that the French word is recorded in this sense slightly later than the English one.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the senses of humour: from 1526 it also meant moist or damp, a sense lost by the mid 17th century.[2][7] From 1589, in Robert Greene, it described a person ruled by moods: capricious, whimsical or odd,[2] a use Etymonline finds in Shakespeare;[5] from 1590 it could also mean moody or peevish.[2][5] The modern sense, funny or showing a sense of humour, is dated by the OED to before 1652, in Richard Brome's The Court Beggar,[2] and by Etymonline to 1705.[5] Johnson (1755) gave first "full of grotesque or odd images".[8] In Scots and in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire dialect the older sense "capricious, pettish, in a bad temper" lasted into the 19th century.[9] Used as a noun, the humorous meant humorous people from 1606, and what is amusing or comic from 1753.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – relating to the bodily humours.[2][5]
  • 1526 – moist, humid (obsolete by 1658).[2]
  • 1589 – capricious, whimsical.[2]
  • 1590 – moody, peevish (obsolete by 1842).[2]
  • 1606 – noun, humorous people.[2]
  • before 1652 – funny, showing a sense of humour.[2]
  • 1705 – funny, causing laughter, in Etymonline's dating.[5]
  • 1753 – noun, what is amusing or comic.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Funny; causing laughter or amusement: She gave a humorous account of the trip.[10][3][2]
  2. Having or showing a sense of humor: a humorous glint in his eye.[10][3][2]
  3. (archaic) Ruled by moods; capricious or whimsical.[10][3][2]
  4. (historical) Relating to the bodily humours; humoral.[2][7]
  5. (obsolete, 1526–1658) Moist, humid.[2][3][7]

Word family

  • humorously
  • humorousness
  • nonhumorous
  • unhumorous
  • humor
  • humour
  • humoral
  • humid
  • humorist

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes humorous, which suggests a real sense of fun and of the comic, gentle or impersonal, from witty (quick to see and cleverly express what is amusing, and sometimes sharp at another's expense), facetious (joking and not meant seriously) and waggish (with the harmless mischief of a habitual joker).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins