laugh
/lɐːf/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.66 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter.
verb
To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and eyes, and usually accompanied by the emission of explosive or chuckling sounds from the chest and throat; to indulge in laughter.
Intransitive verb
verb
To be or appear cheerful, pleasant, mirthful, lively, or brilliant; to sparkle; to sport.
Intransitive verb; Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind."
- "That man is a bad man who has not within him the power of a hearty laugh."
- "It never fails to get a laugh. Here's to more humor in chess."
- "His deep laughs boomed through the room."
- "“And this rug,” he says, stomping on an old rag carpet. “How much do you suppose that cost?” ¶ It was my first guess, so I said fifty dollars. ¶ “That’s a laugh,” he said. “I paid two thousand for that rug.”"
- "Life's a piece of shit / When you look at it / Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *klek- Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan Old English hliehhander. Old English hlæhhan Middle English laughen, laghen English laugh From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną. Cognates Germanic: Scots lauch (“to laugh”), Yola leeigh, leigh (“to laugh”), North Frisian laache, lachi, laake, loache, lååke (“to laugh”), Saterland Frisian laachje (“to laugh”), West Frisian laitsje (“to laugh”), Alemannic German lache (“to laugh”), Cimbrian lachan (“to laugh”), Dutch, German, and Low German lachen (“to laugh”), Luxembourgish laachen (“to laugh”), Yiddish לאַכן (lakhn, “to laugh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish le (“to laugh”), Elfdalian läa (“to laugh”), Faroese læa (“to laugh”), Icelandic hlæja (“to laugh”), Norwegian Nynorsk le, læ, læja (“to laugh”), Crimean Gothic lachen (“to laugh”), Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hlahjan, “to laugh”). Indo-European: Breton kloc'h (“bell”), Irish clog (“bell; clock”), Manx and Scottish Gaelic clag (“bell”), Welsh cloch (“bell”), Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ, “to cluck, cackle”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /lɐːf/
- British English: /lɑːf/