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cachinno

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaˈkʰɪn.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kaˈkin.no][1]

Forms

cachinnō (present infinitive cachinnāre, perfect active cachinnāvī, supine cachinnātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cachinnus (“loud laughter”), with the verb ending -ō.[1] The OLD calls the word imitative of the sound of laughter and compares Ancient Greek καγχάζω (kankházō, “to laugh aloud”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is in Accius, where an echo is said to “laugh” with a clanging din.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant to laugh loudly or without restraint, to guffaw.[2][3] L&S calls it classical but rare: Lucretius has servant girls who laugh in secret, and Cicero sets cachinnāre ipse Aprōnius beside the guests' laughter.[3][2] Döderlein distinguishes it from rīdeō: rīdēre is a joyful, moderate laugh, while cachinnārī is an unrestrained, resounding fit of laughter.[5] Later it took an object, “to laugh loudly at”, as in Apuleius.[2]

English formed cachinnate from its past participle in 1824.[6]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of an echo.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of girls laughing in secret.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the speeches against Verres.[2][4]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it with an object, “to laugh at”.[2][4]
  • 1824 – English forms cachinnate from its past participle.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To laugh loudly or immoderately, guffaw.[2][3]
  2. (of the sea or an echo) To roar, resound.[2][1]
  3. (transitive) To laugh loudly at, deride.[2]

Word family

  • cachinnābilis
  • cachinnātiō
  • decachinno
  • English cachinnate

Usage notes

A rare noun cachinnō, -ōnis, “a loud laugher”, occurs in Persius.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com