Humor in Different Languages
Discover 'Humor' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Humor
Afrikaans humor | ||
Albanian humor | ||
Amharic ቀልድ | ||
Arabic دعابة | ||
Armenian հումոր | ||
Assamese ৰসিকতা | ||
Aymara humor ukat juk’ampinaka | ||
Azerbaijani yumor | ||
Bambara nisɔndiya | ||
Basque umorea | ||
Belarusian гумар | ||
Bengali মেজাজ | ||
Bhojpuri हास्य के भाव बा | ||
Bosnian humor | ||
Bulgarian хумор | ||
Catalan humor | ||
Cebuano kataw-anan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 幽默 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 幽默 | ||
Corsican umore | ||
Croatian humor | ||
Czech humor | ||
Danish humor | ||
Dhivehi ސަމާސާ އެވެ | ||
Dogri हास्य | ||
Dutch humor | ||
English humor | ||
Esperanto humuro | ||
Estonian huumor | ||
Ewe nukokoedonamenyawo | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) katatawanan | ||
Finnish huumori | ||
French humour | ||
Frisian humor | ||
Galician humor | ||
Georgian იუმორი | ||
German humor | ||
Greek χιούμορ | ||
Guarani humor rehegua | ||
Gujarati રમૂજ | ||
Haitian Creole imè | ||
Hausa abun dariya | ||
Hawaiian hoʻomākeʻaka | ||
Hebrew הוּמוֹר | ||
Hindi हास्य | ||
Hmong lom zem heev | ||
Hungarian humor | ||
Icelandic húmor | ||
Igbo ọchị | ||
Ilocano kinamanagpakatawa | ||
Indonesian humor | ||
Irish greann | ||
Italian umorismo | ||
Japanese ユーモア | ||
Javanese banyolan | ||
Kannada ಹಾಸ್ಯ | ||
Kazakh әзіл | ||
Khmer ការលេងសើច | ||
Kinyarwanda urwenya | ||
Konkani विनोद | ||
Korean 기분 | ||
Krio fɔ mek yu laf | ||
Kurdish dilşahî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) نوکتە | ||
Kyrgyz юмор | ||
Lao ຕະຫລົກ | ||
Latin humor | ||
Latvian humors | ||
Lingala maseki ya kosekisa | ||
Lithuanian humoras | ||
Luganda okusesa | ||
Luxembourgish humor | ||
Macedonian хумор | ||
Maithili हास्य | ||
Malagasy humor | ||
Malay kelucuan | ||
Malayalam നർമ്മം | ||
Maltese umoriżmu | ||
Maori whakakatakata | ||
Marathi विनोद | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯍꯨꯃꯥꯡ ꯊꯣꯀꯄꯥ꯫ | ||
Mizo hlimthla a ni | ||
Mongolian хошин шог | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဟာသ | ||
Nepali हास्य | ||
Norwegian humor | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) nthabwala | ||
Odia (Oriya) ହାସ୍ୟରସ | ||
Oromo qoosaa | ||
Pashto مسخره | ||
Persian شوخ طبعی | ||
Polish humor | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) humor | ||
Punjabi ਹਾਸੇ | ||
Quechua asichikuy | ||
Romanian umor | ||
Russian юмор | ||
Samoan malie | ||
Sanskrit हास्यम् | ||
Scots Gaelic àbhachdas | ||
Sepedi metlae | ||
Serbian хумор | ||
Sesotho metlae | ||
Shona zvinosetsa | ||
Sindhi مزاح | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) හාස්යය | ||
Slovak humor | ||
Slovenian humor | ||
Somali kaftan | ||
Spanish humor | ||
Sundanese pikaseurieun | ||
Swahili ucheshi | ||
Swedish humör | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) katatawanan | ||
Tajik юмор | ||
Tamil நகைச்சுவை | ||
Tatar юмор | ||
Telugu హాస్యం | ||
Thai อารมณ์ขัน | ||
Tigrinya ዋዛ | ||
Tsonga ku hlekisa | ||
Turkish mizah | ||
Turkmen degişme | ||
Twi (Akan) aseresɛm | ||
Ukrainian гумор | ||
Urdu مزاح | ||
Uyghur يۇمۇر | ||
Uzbek hazil | ||
Vietnamese hài hước | ||
Welsh hiwmor | ||
Xhosa uburharha | ||
Yiddish הומאָר | ||
Yoruba takiti | ||
Zulu amahlaya |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, "humor" also refers to a person with bad luck or a misfortune. |
| Albanian | In Albanian, the word "humor" can also mean "liquid" or "moisture". |
| Amharic | The word 'ቀልድ'(humor) is ultimately derived from the Ge'ez word 'ቀሊድ'(secret), referring to the hidden or subtle nature of humor. |
| Arabic | The word دعابة (du'aba) shares the same origin as the word دعب (da'b), which means 'to joke' in Arabic. |
| Armenian | 'Հումոր' is derived from the Armenian word 'hum', meaning 'spirit' or 'mood', and can also refer to a person's disposition or temperament. |
| Azerbaijani | In Azerbaijani, the word yumor not only refers to |
| Basque | Basque "umorea" relates to "umore": "disposition", and "berri": "news" or "intelligence". |
| Belarusian | In Belarusian, "гумар" can also refer to a type of folk dance or a gathering of people for entertainment. |
| Bengali | মেজাজ refers to both one's "mood" or "temper" and one of the four humours in the ancient theory of bodily fluids, linking it etymologically to the English word "humor." |
| Bosnian | Korijen riječi leži u latinskoj riječi 'humor' koja je značila 'tečnost'. |
| Bulgarian | In Bulgarian, "хумор" also refers to bodily fluids and is etymologically related to the verb "тека" (to flow). |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "humor" can also refer to a person's mood or disposition. |
| Cebuano | Kataw-anan means 'joy' yet its root word, 'katuwa', is also the term used for a 'companion', which reflects the idea that joy comes from having good company. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 幽默的古义为‘湿润’、‘温润’，后引申为‘风趣’，指使人愉快、发笑的事物。 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 幽默的本義是『適時而動』，後來才在中醫用作『液體』之意。 |
| Corsican | Corsican umore derives from the Latin word humor "liquid" and in Old Occitan meant "disposition, character". |
| Croatian | In Croatian, "humor" can also refer to a liquid or fluid, such as a body fluid or a chemical solution. |
| Czech | In Czech, "humor" (humor) also means "bile" and used to be associated with temperament. |
| Danish | In Danish, "humor" can also mean "mood", "inclination", or "whim". |
| Dutch | In the original Dutch, "humor" refers to a bodily fluid, one of the four humours believed by ancient Greek physicians to determine a person's temperament. |
| Esperanto | The word “humuro” comes from the Latin word “ūmor” (“moisture”) and shares a root with English words such as “humidity” and “humor”. |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "huumor" can also refer to a "liquid" or "moisture". |
| Finnish | The Finnish word "huumori" derives from the Latin word "humor", which originally meant "liquid" and was used in medicine to refer to bodily fluids believed to influence a person's temperament. |
| French | In French, the word "humour" can also mean "moisture" or "liquid", derived from the Latin word "humor". |
| Frisian | In Frisian "humor" also means "to put something in something", especially when dealing with liquids and fluids. |
| Galician | In Galician, "humor" can also mean "soil" or "fertilizer", sharing the etymology with the French "humus". |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "იუმორი" (humor) is derived from the Latin "umor," meaning "moisture" or "liquid," and was originally used in medicine to refer to the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) that were believed to determine a person's temperament and health. |
| German | The German word "Humor" also refers to bodily fluids, e.g. "der Humor ist im Gleichgewicht" (the humors are in balance). |
| Greek | In Greek, "χιούμορ" can also refer to moisture, fluids, or sap. |
| Gujarati | The word "રમૂજ" (ramūj) can also mean "a joke" or "witticism" in Gujarati. |
| Haitian Creole | In its original form, before being creolized, the word "imè" comes from the French word "humeur" (which also means "humor") and in Haitian Creole, it often refers to a person's "mood" rather than their "sense of humor." |
| Hausa | The word 'abun dariya' in Hausa has its roots in the concept of 'something that makes one laugh'. |
| Hawaiian | Hoʻomākeʻaka, "humor" in Hawaiian, stems from the root word "mākeʻaka" meaning "bitter" and the causative prefix "hoʻo-," suggesting a play on words with the idea of using humor to lighten or soften bitter experiences. |
| Hebrew | The word "הוּמוֹר" (humor) is derived from the Latin word "humor", which means "fluid". In Hebrew, the word "הוּמוֹר" is also used to refer to the "fluid" of a person's body, such as blood or lymph. |
| Hindi | The Sanskrit word "हास्य" (hā́sya) also means "laughter" or "a jest". |
| Hmong | The word "lom zem heev" in Hmong can refer to various meanings such as "happiness, joy, excitement, or laughter" in different contexts. |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, "humor" (humor) originally referred to the moisture from the human body, and is cognate with the English word "humour", which in the past had similar meanings |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "húmor" also means "disposition", "temperament" and "mood." |
| Igbo | "Ọchị" is also a verb meaning "to be funny" or "to make someone laugh". |
| Indonesian | The word "humor" comes from the Latin word "humor," which means "moisture" or "fluid." |
| Irish | Derived from the Old Irish 'grian' or 'sun', greann signifies 'warmth' or 'brightness,' akin to the 'sunniness' of humor. |
| Italian | While "umorismo" commonly means "humor" in Italian, it can also refer to the intellectual quality of appreciating the absurdities of life with a touch of irony and detachment. |
| Japanese | In Japanese, "ユーモア" (yūmoa) is derived from the English word "humor" and also has the meaning of "a mood or atmosphere." |
| Javanese | The Javanese word “banyolan” originates from the word “banyol” which means wet, because humor can “wet” the body of the hearer and make them laugh. |
| Kannada | The word "ಹಾಸ್ಯ" (humor) in Kannada is also used to describe a specific type of literary genre, akin to satire. |
| Kazakh | The word "әзіл" has Turkic roots and is related to the words "to joke" and "to make fun of". |
| Korean | 기분 (gibun) also means "feeling" or "emotion" in Korean, and can be used to express a range of subjective experiences. |
| Kurdish | Dilşahî shares its root with the Persian word "dil" (heart), signifying its connection to emotions. |
| Kyrgyz | The word “юмор” (“humor”) comes from the Greek word “χυμός” (“chumos”), which means “fluid” or “juice”. |
| Latin | In Latin, "humor" can also refer to fluids in the body or moisture in the air. |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "humors" derives from the Old Prussian word "humars", meaning "spirit" or "soul." |
| Lithuanian | "Humoras" is a loanword from Latin, where "humor" referred to the four humors believed to determine a person's personality and health. |
| Luxembourgish | While the word 'Humor' in Luxembourgish can refer to 'humor', it can also mean 'mood' or 'temperament'. |
| Macedonian | In Macedonian, 'хумор' can also refer to the juice of fruit, especially grapes. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "hatsikana" means both "humor" and "laughter". |
| Malay | The word "kelucuan" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian root "*kuluq", meaning "to laugh". |
| Malayalam | Malayalam's 'നർമ്മം' originates from the Sanskrit 'नर्म', meaning both 'play' and 'water', indicating humor's role in dissolving stiffness like water. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "umoriżmu" originates from the Italian word "umorismo" and originally referred to a person's disposition or mood. |
| Maori | The word "whakakatakata" also means "to make a joke" or "to make fun of someone". |
| Marathi | The word 'विनोद' (vinod) also means 'recreation', 'entertainment', or 'amusement' in Marathi. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "хошин шог" originally meant "to make a face". |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | "ဟာသ" is derived from the Sanskrit word हास्य (hāasya), meaning "laughter", "ridicule", or "wit." |
| Nepali | The Nepali word 'हास्य' ('humor') can also refer to the humorous aspect of a situation, or a funny story. |
| Norwegian | Despite having the same spelling as the English word, the Norwegian word 'humor' actually translates to 'mood' in English. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'nthabwala' in Nyanja also means 'laughter' and 'amusement'. |
| Pashto | The word "مسخره" can also mean "funny" or "ridiculous" in Pashto. |
| Persian | The Persian word "شوخ طبعی" (humor) also connotes mischievousness, wit, and lightheartedness. |
| Polish | In Polish, "humor" can also refer to fluids (e.g., blood) or soil quality, deriving from the Latin "humor" meaning "liquid". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "humor" can also mean "moisture", "dampness", or "mildew". |
| Punjabi | The word 'ਹਾਸੇ' (humor in Punjabi) originates from the Sanskrit word 'हास', which means 'laughter' or 'joy'. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "umor" is derived from the French "humeur", which in turn comes from the Latin "humor", meaning "a liquid", and in modern French can refer both to "humor" and to "mood". |
| Russian | The Russian word "юмор" (humor) comes from the Greek word "χυμός" (liquid) and originally referred to the flow of bodily fluids, and hence the mood |
| Samoan | Malie is a homonym with the word 'malie,' which means 'calm, quiet, smooth.' |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "àbhachdas" can also refer to a person's disposition or character. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word “хумор” can also refer to a liquid’s consistency and is related to the English word “humour” in the sense of “body fluid”. |
| Sesotho | The word 'metlae' also has a literal meaning of 'spittle', or 'saliva' |
| Shona | In addition to "humor," "zvinosetsa" means "pleasantness" or "sweetness." |
| Sindhi | The word "مزاح" can also mean "joke" or "fun" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word "haasyaya (හාස්යය)" has a dual meaning and can also denote "play". |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "humor" can also refer to fluids in the body, such as blood or lymph. |
| Slovenian | V slovenščini beseda 'humor' poleg pomena 'humor', lahko pomeni tudi 'vlaga', 'tekočina' ali 'tekoče stanje' |
| Somali | The Somali word "kaftan" can also mean "a long, loose robe". |
| Spanish | En español, la palabra "humor" también puede hacer referencia a la humedad. |
| Sundanese | Pikaseurieun is a compound word consisting of two words: "pika" which means "to feel" and "surieun" which means "funny", hence its meaning as "to feel funny" or "humor". |
| Swahili | "Ucheshi" also means 'something to make one laugh', 'fun' and 'amusement'. |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "humör" derives from the Latin word "humor", meaning "liquid", and was originally used to refer to the body's fluids. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word 'katatawanan' can also refer to the funny or amusing aspect of something. |
| Tajik | В таджикском языке, "юмор" также используется для описания жидкости, особенно сока или бульона. |
| Telugu | The word "హాస్యం" can also mean "funny" or "comic" in Telugu. |
| Thai | "อารมณ์ขัน" can also mean a physical fluid which causes diseases |
| Turkish | Mizah comes from the Arabic "muzaha" and originally meant "to joke" before coming to mean humor. |
| Ukrainian | The word "гумор" (humor) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *smeu-, meaning "to laugh" or "to smile." |
| Urdu | The word "مزاح" can also mean "fun" or "playfulness". |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "hazil" is also used to refer to a joke or a funny story. |
| Vietnamese | "Hài hước" in Vietnamese also means "funny, comedic," or "humorous." |
| Welsh | In Welsh, 'hiwmor' can also refer to a person's temperament or disposition |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, the word 'uburharha' also refers to the bubbling of water, reflecting the idea that humor is transformative and can uplift one's spirits. |
| Yiddish | Yiddish "humor," from Middle High German **hūmoren**, refers not only to "humor," but also to "moods" and even "temperament" or "disposition." |
| Yoruba | "Takiti" can also mean "jest" or "trick" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'amahlaya' means 'humor,' referring to someone or something that is lighthearted, lively and carefree. |
| English | The word “humor” originally referred to one of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler, and black bile) thought to control a person’s temperament and health. |