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1. Dictionary

   humour

   /ˈhjuːmə/

   noun

   • 1. the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech: "his tales are full of humour" Similar comical aspectcomic sidefunny sidecomedyfunninesshilarityjocularityabsurdityabsurdnessludicrousnessdrollnessfacetiousnesssatireironyOpposite seriousness
   • ▪ the ability to express humour or amuse other people: "their inimitable brand of humour"
   • 2. a mood or state of mind: "her good humour vanished" Similar moodtemperdispositiontemperamentframe of mindstate of mindspirits
   • ▪ an inclination or whim: archaic "and have you really burnt all your Plays to please a Humour?"
   • 3. each of the four chief fluids of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile (choler), and black bile (melancholy)) that were thought to determine a person's physical and mental qualities by the relative proportions in which they were present. historical

   verb

   • 1. comply with the wishes of (someone) in order to keep them content, however unreasonable such wishes might be: "she was always humouring him to prevent trouble"
   • ▪ adapt or accommodate oneself to (something): "in reading this stanza we ought to humour it with a corresponding tone of voice"

   Word Origin Middle English: via Old French from Latin humor ‘moisture’, from humere (see humid). The original sense was ‘bodily fluid’ (surviving in aqueous humour and vitreous humour); it was used specifically for any of the cardinal humours (humour (sense 3 of the noun)), whence ‘mental disposition’ (thought to be caused by the relative proportions of the humours). This led, in the 16th century, to the senses ‘mood’ (humour (sense 2 of the noun)) and ‘whim’, hence to humour someone ‘to indulge a person's whim’. humour (sense 1 of the noun) dates from the late 16th century.

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • H

     4

   • U

     1

   • M

     3

   • O

     1

   • U

     1

   • R

     1

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