humour
verb/ˈhjuːmə(r)/
/ˈhjuːmər/
(US English humor)
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they humour | /ˈhjuːmə(r)/ /ˈhjuːmər/ |
| he / she / it humours | /ˈhjuːməz/ /ˈhjuːmərz/ |
| past simple humoured | /ˈhjuːməd/ /ˈhjuːmərd/ |
| past participle humoured | /ˈhjuːməd/ /ˈhjuːmərd/ |
| -ing form humouring | /ˈhjuːmərɪŋ/ /ˈhjuːmərɪŋ/ |
- humour somebody to agree with somebody’s wishes, even if they seem unreasonable, in order to keep the person happy
- She thought it best to humour them rather than get into an argument.
Word OriginMiddle English: via Old French from Latin humor ‘moisture’, from humere ‘be moist’. The original sense was ‘bodily fluid’ (surviving in aqueous humour and vitreous humour); it was used specifically for any of the cardinal humours (sense (3)), which led to the sense ‘mental disposition’ (thought to be caused by the relative proportions of the humours). This led, in the 16th cent., to the senses ‘mood’ (sense (2)) and ‘whim’, hence to humour someone ‘to indulge a person's whim’. Sense (1) dates from the late 16th cent.Want to learn more?
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humour