English → Latin
“laugh” in Latin
rīdeōto laugh; to laugh at, ridicule, mockringorto snarl; to be vexed, angryvaldēvery, very much, exceedingly; strongly, vigorously, intenselycachinnōto laugh loudly or immoderately; to cachinnate; to guffaw, roar (laugh uproariously), cackle; to splash, roar
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
laugh s.
risus, -ūs. Vid: LAUGHTER.
laugh v.
ridere (with the poets also, as in English, figuratively; e.g., to have a joyous or cheerful appearance): risum edere (only PROP.): to laugh broadly, ringi: to laugh violently, valde, vehementer ridere, miros edere risus, in risum effundi (generally); cachinnare, cachinnum tollere (to laugh immoderately or loudly): to laugh at anyone, ridere aliquem or de aliquo; irridēre aliquem (to laugh in anyone’s face); deridere aliquem (to laugh at anyone in the way of contempt): I am laughed at, rideor: to laugh at anything, ridere aliquid or de re: anything is laughed at, people laugh at anything, ridetur aliquid: to laugh at or on occasion of anything, arridere (absolutely, or with an accusative of the pronoun neuter): aliquid ridere (simply to laugh at; ☞ ridere ad aliquid is not Latin); risu aliquid excipere (to receive with laughter): not to 1augh, non ridere; risum tenere, continere: to make anyone laugh [Vid: to excite LAUGHTER]: to laugh till one’s sides split, risu emori; risu corruere; risu rumpi: to laugh maliciously, in stomacho ridere (Cic., ad Div., 2, 16): to laugh in one’s sleeve, in sinu or in sinu tacito gaudere (Cic., Tusc. 3, 21, 51; Tibullus, 4, 13, 8); sensim atque summissim ridere (Gell.); furtim cachinnare (Lucr.): ☞ not cachinnari.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for laugh?
- The usual Latin words for “laugh” are rīdeō, ringor, valdē; also cachinnō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.