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Word of the day: Cachinnation

Cachinnation

kakɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n

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NOUN

  • Loud, convulsive laughter.

  • "Cachinnation spilled out of the movie theater showing the recent comedy release."

"Cachinnation spilled out of the movie theater showing the recent comedy release."

EXAMPLE SENTENCES

“Cachinnation spilled out of the movie theater showing the recent comedy release.”

“We tried to remain calm through the ceremony, but my friend and I burst into cachinnation when we caught each other’s eyes.” 

“The hoots coming from the monkey habitat sounded almost like the cachinnation of a group of children.” 

WORD ORIGIN

Latin, early 19th century

WHY THIS WORD?

There are so many synonyms for “laughter”: “chucking,” “giggling,” “tittering,” “howling,” and “hooting,” just to name a few. And across the world, there are countless translations for laughter, too. In Afrikaans, it’s “gelag.” In Hindi, “hansee” means “laughter,” and in Korean, they say “us-eum.” “Smijeh” is laughter in Croatian, and it’s “latter” in Norwegian. While laughter is universal, if you want to describe a specific kind of laughter — a loud, uncontrollable, convulsive laughter — that’s “cachinnation.”

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