What does cachinnation mean?
Cachinnation denotes loud, unrestrained, often prolonged laughter — the kind of immoderate laughing that erupts uncontrollably rather than being politely suppressed. It functions as a noun, typically appearing in phrases such as 'a fit of cachinnation' or 'peals of cachinnation,' and its verb form, cachinnate, describes the act of laughing this way. The word derives from the Latin verb cachinnari, which meant precisely to laugh loudly or immoderately. Because it is formal and somewhat rare, cachinnation lends writing an erudite or deliberately ornate register; deployed casually it can read as comic pedantry. It is most at home in literary prose, satire, and scholarly commentary on humor, where writers want a precise, vivid alternative to plain 'laughter' that conveys both volume and loss of composure.
nounLoud, unrestrained, and often prolonged laughter; a burst of boisterous laughing.
- Loud, immoderate, or convulsive laughter; an instance or fit of such laughing.
"His account of the mishap sent the entire table into cachinnation."
"The comedian's final punchline provoked cachinnation throughout the theater."
"She covered her mouth, but the cachinnation escaping her was impossible to suppress."
The plural is rare and used when referring to multiple separate outbursts of loud laughter rather than a single continuous fit.
"The recording captured the audience's cachinnations from three separate performances."
When you can't stop laughing out loud, lexicographers have a word for that exact moment — and it comes from a Latin verb that literally means to laugh immoderately.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cachinnation
Cachinnation traces to the Latin verb cachinnari, meaning to laugh aloud or immoderately, whose frequentative force suggests repeated, convulsive bursts of laughter. English adopted the noun by way of learned Latinate borrowing, likely in the early modern period, alongside the related forms cachinnate (to laugh loudly) and cachinnatory. The Latin root itself is of obscure deeper origin, though it has sometimes been linked to ancient Greek verbs of laughing. Its cognates in English are therefore chiefly the other derivatives of the same Latin stem.
Related word forms
How cachinnation is actually used
Cachinnation is a formal, literary, or humorous-scholarly term; in everyday speech people simply say 'laughter' or 'guffaws.' It carries a slightly comic or mock-erudite flavor when used in ordinary writing, so it is best reserved for contexts where elevated diction fits.
Easily confused with cachinnation
Cachexia is a medical term for severe wasting of the body due to illness, whereas cachinnation refers to loud, uncontrolled laughter — the shared 'cach-' spelling is coincidental.
A cachet is a mark of prestige or distinction, unrelated to cachinnation's meaning of loud laughter despite similar opening letters.