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LAUGHTER

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 281 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LAUGHTER , the visible and audible expression of mirth, See also:

pleasure or the sense of the ridiculous by movements of the facial muscles and inarticulate sounds (see See also:COMEDY, See also:PLAY and See also:HuMouR). The O. Eng. hleahtor is formed from hleahhan, to laugh, a See also:common See also:Teutonic word; cf. Ger. lachen, Goth. hlahjan, Icel. hlaeja, &c. These are in origin echoic or imitative words, to be referred to a See also:Tent. See also:base hlah-, Indo-Eur. kark-, to make a See also:noise; See also:Skeat (Etym. Dict., 1898) connects ultimately Gr. xX roew, to cluck like a See also:hen, Kp4eLv, to croak, &c. A See also:gentle and inaudible See also:form of laughter expressed by a See also:movement of the lips and by the eyes is a " smile." This is a comparatively See also:late word in See also:English, and is due to Scandinavian See also:influence; cf. Swed. smila; it is ultimately connected with See also:Lat. mirari, to wonder, and probably with Gr. µeTos.

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