humor

From Latin humor < humere "to be moist"

In ancient and medieval physiology, one of the four "cardinal humors" which by their proportions determined a person’s disposition both mental and physical.

 

blood — sanguine [< Latin sanguis] — ruddy in complexion and optimistic or rosy in temperament

phlegm — phlegmatic [< Greek phlegein "to burn"] — sluggish in temperament

choler — choleric (or bilious) [< Greek chole "bile"] — yellowish in coloring and angry in disposition

melancholia — melancholic [< Greek melan- "black" + chole] — dark and gloomy

From these the meaning travels to mental disposition or mood and then to a particular inclination or whim and then more specifically to the quality that excites amusement or jocularity and the ability to express it to arrive at our own usage in the expression, "sense of humor."

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