laugh English · revision 4001

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 897|origins=gem-pro *hlahjaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /lɑːf/, US /læf/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|laughen]], lahhen,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|hlæhhan]] (Anglian), earlier hliehhan, hlihhan “to laugh, laugh at; rejoice; deride”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*hlahjaną|alt=*klakhjan]],^(Etymonline) the source also of Old Norse hlæja, Dutch and German lachen and Gothic hlahjan,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*kleg-]],^(Etymonline) of imitative origin,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) compare Latin cachinnāre “to laugh aloud” and Greek klṓssein “to cluck”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[laughter]].^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To laugh: about 897 in the OED;^(OED 1989) Old English hlihhan is recorded before 725, in Genesis A, and hlæhhan before 830.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was originally pronounced with a guttural gh, as in Scottish loch;^(Etymonline) the sound shifted to f in English but not Scottish use, and the spelling, as in cough and enough, does not show the change.^(Etymonline) ''To laugh in one's sleeve'', to laugh inwardly, is from 1560.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Of inanimate things, poetically, as of a laughing field, it is from about 1386.^(OED 1989) The noun, the action of laughing, is from 1690,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) the older noun being [[laughter]].^(Etymonline) A cause of laughter is by 1895, and the ironic ''that's a laugh'' by 1921;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''for a laugh'' is from 1936^(OED 1989) and the ''laugh track'' from 1961.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 897 – to laugh.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – of inanimate things.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1560 – ''laugh in one's sleeve''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1690 – noun.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1895 – a cause of laughter.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1961 – ''laugh track''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To express amusement, joy or scorn with spontaneous sounds and facial movements.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To feel or show amusement.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To mock or [[ridicule]]: ''laughed at their efforts''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To say with a laugh.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or sound of laughing.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Something amusing; a joke: ''that's a laugh''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''Laughs'', fun or amusement: ''for laughs''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[laugher]]

+ * [[laughingly]]

+ * [[horselaugh]]

+ * [[laughable]]

+ * [[laughing]]

+ * [[outlaugh]]

+ * [[belly laugh]]

+ * [[laugh line]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[laughter]]

+ * [[cackle]]

+ * [[chuckle]]

+ * [[giggle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}