Laughter Definition

lăftər, läf-

noun

The act of laughing.

American Heritage

The action of laughing or the sound resulting.

Webster's New World

An indication of mirth or amusement.

With laughter in her eyes.

Webster's New World

A matter for or cause of laughter.

Webster's New World

A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the laughing face, particularly of the lips, and of the whole body, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Laughter

Noun

Singular:

laughter

Plural:

laughters

Origin of Laughter

From Middle English, from Old English hleahtor (“laughter, jubilation, derision"), from Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz (“laughter"), from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout"). Cognate with German Gelächter (“laughter, hilarity, merriment"), Danish and Norwegian latter (“laughter"), Icelandic hlátur (“laughter"). More at laugh.

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English hleahtor

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition