From the Editor 9/29: Defining Humor

The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that humor is “That quality of action, speech, or writing, which excites amusement; oddity, jocularity, facetiousness, comicality, fun.” Alternatively, the Oxford English Dictionary says that humor could be used to mean “The faculty of perceiving what is ludicrous or amusing, or of expressing it in speech, writing, or other composition; jocose imagination or treatment of a subject.”
The Oxford English Dictionary goes on to say that the word humor is often used as a noun but that it can be used as a verb. When used as a verb, the Oxford English Dictionary posits that humor means “To comply with the humour of; to soothe or gratify by compliance; to indulge.” This definition is of course strictly transitive.
When the verb is used in a more figurative sense, the Oxford English Dictionary says that the word means “To comply with the peculiar nature or exigencies of (something); to adapt or accommodate oneself to; to act in compliance or agreement with; to fit, suit (with something)”
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word ‘humor’ comes to us from the ancient Latin ‘humorem,’ which appears in other romance languages in similar forms. The closest form to our English ‘humor’ is the Anglo-Norman “(h)umor.”
In Middle English, the word was spelled “Umour,” or sometimes “Umor” (Again, according to the Oxford English Dictionary).
The Oxford English Dictionary also says that one of the earliest English uses of the word ‘humor’ comes from the book Humerous Dayes Mirth by George Chapman, when the author says “The skie hangs full of humour, and I thinke we shall haue raine.”
The word humor had different connotations back during the Middle Ages. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary tells us that in the fourteenth century humor meant “Any fluid or juice of an animal or plant, either natural or morbid.” At this time, the OED says, physicians believed there were four humors in the body, “blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy or black choler.”
The Oxford English Dictionary asserts that the word humor is often spelled ‘humour’ in the United Kingdom, but that American writers usually spell it ‘humor.’ The Oxford English Dictionary does not assert that either of the spellings is correct, as this is not the Oxford English Dictionary’s job.
The Oxford English Dictionary maintains that there are two possible pronunciations of humor, hjumo(r) and jumi(r). The Oxford English Dictionary says that the H found in humor is pronounced the same as the h in the words ‘hot’ and ‘inhale.’
The Oxford English Dictionary also says that the pronunciation of this ‘h’ is a relatively recent development, and that many people choose not to pronounce it, especially in the UK.