Humour Was Once a Bodily Fluid
Humour is the quality of being amusing. The word first named four bodily fluids believed to govern health and temperament.
Humor is the quality of being amusing, or a state of mind. The word originally meant a fluid: ancient and medieval medicine held that four *humours* — blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile — determined health and temperament, and an imbalance made you ill or moody. That is why we still speak of being *in a good humour* and why *melancholy* literally means black bile. The comic sense arrived only in the seventeenth century.
- Amusing quality. *A dry sense of humour.*
- A mood. *In a bad humour.*
- A bodily fluid (historical). *The four humours.*
- To indulge someone. *Humour him.*
- Humour — the British spelling. *Humour.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun (US) | humor | Good humor. |
| Noun (UK) | humour | Good humour. |
| Adjective | humorous | A humorous story. |
| Verb | humour | Humour her. |
| Latin | umor | Moisture. |
- She has a very dry sense of humour.Comedy.
- He was in a foul humour all day.Mood.
- Melancholy means black bile.The old medicine.
The four humours
- Blood — sanguine: cheerful and optimistic
- Phlegm — phlegmatic: calm and unexcitable
- Yellow bile — choleric: irritable and quick-tempered
- Black bile — melancholic: sad and reflective
- All four words survive as personality descriptions
Latin *umor*, moisture or fluid, through Old French. The sense of amusing quality developed in the 1600s.
What were the four humours?
Blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, believed to control health and temperament. Their names survive as sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic.
Is it humor or humour?
Humor is American, humour British. Both use humorous, without the u.