Who's to say what humour is?
Humor \Hu"mor\, n. [OE. humour, OF. humor,
umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture,
fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See
Humid.] [Written also humour.] 1. Moisture,
especially, the moisture or fluid of animal
bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the
humors of the eye, etc.
Note: The ancient physicians believed that
there were four humors (the blood, phlegm,
yellow bile or choler, and black bile or
melancholy), on the relative proportion of
which the temperament and health depended.
2. (Med.) A vitiated or morbid animal fluid,
such as often causes an eruption on the skin.
''A body full of humors.'' --Sir W. Temple.
3. State of mind, whether habitual or
temporary (as formerly supposed to depend
on the character or combination of the fluids
of the body); disposition; temper; mood; as,
good humor; ill humor.
Examine how your humor is inclined, And
which the ruling passion of your mind.
--Roscommon.
A prince of a pleasant humor. --Bacon.
I like not the humor of lying. --Shak.
4. pl. Changing and uncertain states of mind;
caprices; freaks; vagaries; whims.
Is my friend all perfection, all virtue and
discretion? Has he not humors to be endured?
--South.
5. That quality of the imagination which gives
to ideas an incongruous or fantastic turn, and
tends to excite laughter or mirth by ludicrous
images or representations; a playful fancy;
facetiousness.
For thy sake I admit That a Scot may have
humor, I'd almost said wit. --Goldsmith.
A great deal of excellent humor was expended
on the perplexities of mine host. --W. Irving.
Aqueous humor, Crystalline humor or lens,
Vitreous humor. (Anat.) See Eye.
Out of humor, dissatisfied; displeased; in an
unpleasant frame of mind.
Syn: Wit; satire; pleasantry; temper;
disposition; mood; frame; whim; fancy;
caprice. See Wit.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
humour n 1: a characteristic (habitual or
relatively temporary) state of feeling;
"whether he praised or cursed me depended
on his temper at the time"; "he was in a bad
humor" [syn: temper, mood, humor] 2: a
message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or
incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
[syn: wit, humor, witticism, wittiness] 3: one
of the four fluids in the body whose balance
was believed (in ancient and medieval
physiology) to determine your emotional and
physical state; "the humors are blood and
phlegm and yellow and black bile" [syn:
humor] 4: the quality of being funny; "I fail to
see the humor in it" [syn: humor] 5: the trait
of appreciating (and being able to express)
the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my
humor;" "you can't survive in the army
without a sense of humor" [syn: humor, sense
of humor, sense of humour] v : put into a
good mood [syn: humor]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6
humour
hacker humour
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
humour
humour: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical
Dictionary
Source: On-line Medical Dictionary
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