"laughter" meaning in Middle English

See laughter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈlau̯xtər/, /ˈlaxtər/ (note: Northern, North Midland), /ˈlæi̯xtər/ (note: Buckinghamshire)
Etymology: Inherited from Old English hleahtor, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahtr, from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz. Etymology templates: {{yesno||i|I}} I, {{glossary|Inherited}} Inherited, {{inh|enm|ang|hleahtor|||g=|g2=|g3=|id=|lit=|nocat=|pos=|sc=|sort=|tr=|ts=}} Old English hleahtor, {{inh+|enm|ang|hleahtor}} Inherited from Old English hleahtor, {{inh|enm|gmw-pro|*hlahtr}} Proto-West Germanic *hlahtr, {{inh|enm|gem-pro|*hlahtraz}} Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz Head templates: {{head|enm|noun|g=|g2=|g3=|head=|sort=}} laughter, {{enm-noun|laughtres}} laughter (plural laughtres) Forms: laughtres [plural], laghtre [alternative], laughtere [alternative], laughtir [alternative], laughtre [alternative], lauȝter [alternative], lauȝtere [alternative], lauȝtur [alternative], lauhtir [alternative], lauhtre [alternative], leihter [alternative, Early-Middle-English], lahter [alternative, Early-Middle-English], hleiter [alternative, Early-Middle-English], lahtre [alternative], leahtre [alternative], lehtre [alternative], lihtre [alternative], leiȝtir [alternative], laghter [alternative, Northern], laȝter [alternative, Northern], laȝtir [alternative, Northern], lahuter [alternative, Northern], lauchter [alternative], lauchtir [alternative]
  1. Laughing; the making of laughs.
    Sense id: en-laughter-enm-noun-HIV9hAGb Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Emotions, Laughter Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 27 26 7 18 18 3 Disambiguation of Emotions: 38 38 24 Disambiguation of Laughter: 39 39 22
  2. Laughing; the making of laughs.
    An instance or bout of laughter.
    Sense id: en-laughter-enm-noun-iBIdYrG4 Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Emotions, Laughter Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 27 26 7 18 18 3 Disambiguation of Emotions: 38 38 24 Disambiguation of Laughter: 39 39 22
  3. A humorous matter; something worthy of derision.
    Sense id: en-laughter-enm-noun-BKaoT8jo Categories (other): Emotions, Laughter Disambiguation of Emotions: 38 38 24 Disambiguation of Laughter: 39 39 22

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "laughter"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Scots",
          "lang_code": "sco",
          "word": "lauchter"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Middle Scots",
      "lang_code": "gmw-msc",
      "word": "lauchter"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Scots",
          "lang_code": "sco",
          "word": "lauchter"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Middle Scots",
      "lang_code": "gmw-msc",
      "word": "lachter"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Scots",
          "lang_code": "sco",
          "word": "lauchter"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Middle Scots",
      "lang_code": "gmw-msc",
      "word": "lauchtir"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
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      "name": "yesno"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hleahtor",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hleahtor",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hleahtor"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Old English hleahtor",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*hlahtr"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *hlahtr",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*hlahtraz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Old English hleahtor, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahtr, from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "laughtres",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laghtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laughtere",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laughtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laughtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauȝter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauȝtere",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauȝtur",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauhtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauhtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leihter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lahter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hleiter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lahtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leahtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lehtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lihtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leiȝtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laghter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laȝter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laȝtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lahuter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauchter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauchtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "laughter",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "laughtres"
      },
      "expansion": "laughter (plural laughtres)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "27 26 7 18 18 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 38 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Emotions",
          "orig": "enm:Emotions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 39 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Laughter",
          "orig": "enm:Laughter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              176,
              184
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              177,
              185
            ]
          ],
          "english": "She was such to see in her visage / like that woman that men on a bier notice; / Her face which was the image of Paradise / had totally changed to another kind; / the play, the laughter men tended to find / on her, and all her joys as well / had left, and there Cressida now lies alone.",
          "ref": "a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book IV”, in Troilus and Criseyde, lines 862–868:",
          "text": "She was right swich to seen in hir visage / As is that wight that men on bere binde / Hir face, lyk of Paradys the image / Was al y-chaunged in another kinde. / The pleye, the laughtre men was wont to finde / On hir, and eek hir Ioyes everychone, / Ben fled, and thus lyth now Criseyde allone.",
          "translation": "She was such to see in her visage / like that woman that men on a bier notice; / Her face which was the image of Paradise / had totally changed to another kind; / the play, the laughter men tended to find / on her, and all her joys as well / had left, and there Cressida now lies alone.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Laughing; the making of laughs."
      ],
      "id": "en-laughter-enm-noun-HIV9hAGb",
      "links": [
        [
          "Laughing",
          "laughing"
        ],
        [
          "making",
          "making"
        ],
        [
          "laugh",
          "laugh"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "27 26 7 18 18 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 38 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Emotions",
          "orig": "enm:Emotions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 39 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Laughter",
          "orig": "enm:Laughter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Laughing; the making of laughs.",
        "An instance or bout of laughter."
      ],
      "id": "en-laughter-enm-noun-iBIdYrG4",
      "links": [
        [
          "Laughing",
          "laughing"
        ],
        [
          "making",
          "making"
        ],
        [
          "laugh",
          "laugh"
        ],
        [
          "instance",
          "instance"
        ],
        [
          "bout",
          "bout"
        ],
        [
          "laughter",
          "laughter#English"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "38 38 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Emotions",
          "orig": "enm:Emotions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 39 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Laughter",
          "orig": "enm:Laughter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A humorous matter; something worthy of derision."
      ],
      "id": "en-laughter-enm-noun-BKaoT8jo",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "derision",
          "derision"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlau̯xtər/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlaxtər/",
      "note": "Northern, North Midland"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlæi̯xtər/",
      "note": "Buckinghamshire"
    }
  ],
  "word": "laughter"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Emotions",
    "enm:Laughter"
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "laughter"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Scots",
          "lang_code": "sco",
          "word": "lauchter"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Middle Scots",
      "lang_code": "gmw-msc",
      "word": "lauchter"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Scots",
          "lang_code": "sco",
          "word": "lauchter"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Middle Scots",
      "lang_code": "gmw-msc",
      "word": "lachter"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Scots",
          "lang_code": "sco",
          "word": "lauchter"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Middle Scots",
      "lang_code": "gmw-msc",
      "word": "lauchtir"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
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      "name": "yesno"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
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    },
    {
      "args": {
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        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hleahtor",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
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      "expansion": "Inherited from Old English hleahtor",
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    },
    {
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      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Old English hleahtor, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahtr, from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "laughtres",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laghtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laughtere",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laughtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laughtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauȝter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauȝtere",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauȝtur",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauhtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauhtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leihter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lahter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hleiter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Early-Middle-English"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lahtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leahtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lehtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lihtre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leiȝtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laghter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laȝter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "laȝtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lahuter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauchter",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lauchtir",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "laughter",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "laughtres"
      },
      "expansion": "laughter (plural laughtres)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              176,
              184
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              177,
              185
            ]
          ],
          "english": "She was such to see in her visage / like that woman that men on a bier notice; / Her face which was the image of Paradise / had totally changed to another kind; / the play, the laughter men tended to find / on her, and all her joys as well / had left, and there Cressida now lies alone.",
          "ref": "a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book IV”, in Troilus and Criseyde, lines 862–868:",
          "text": "She was right swich to seen in hir visage / As is that wight that men on bere binde / Hir face, lyk of Paradys the image / Was al y-chaunged in another kinde. / The pleye, the laughtre men was wont to finde / On hir, and eek hir Ioyes everychone, / Ben fled, and thus lyth now Criseyde allone.",
          "translation": "She was such to see in her visage / like that woman that men on a bier notice; / Her face which was the image of Paradise / had totally changed to another kind; / the play, the laughter men tended to find / on her, and all her joys as well / had left, and there Cressida now lies alone.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Laughing; the making of laughs."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Laughing",
          "laughing"
        ],
        [
          "making",
          "making"
        ],
        [
          "laugh",
          "laugh"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Laughing; the making of laughs.",
        "An instance or bout of laughter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Laughing",
          "laughing"
        ],
        [
          "making",
          "making"
        ],
        [
          "laugh",
          "laugh"
        ],
        [
          "instance",
          "instance"
        ],
        [
          "bout",
          "bout"
        ],
        [
          "laughter",
          "laughter#English"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A humorous matter; something worthy of derision."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "derision",
          "derision"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlau̯xtər/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlaxtər/",
      "note": "Northern, North Midland"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlæi̯xtər/",
      "note": "Buckinghamshire"
    }
  ],
  "word": "laughter"
}

Download raw JSONL data for laughter meaning in Middle English (5.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (e79dea5 and 7f4db16). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.