Homeric laughter

English

Etymology

With reference to the "unquenchable laughter" (ἄσβεστος (ásbestos, “unceasing”) γέλως (gélōs, “laughter”)) of the gods in e.g. Iliad I. 599, Odyssey XX. 346.

Noun

Homeric laughter (uncountable)

1. Boisterous laughter, prolonged belly laughing; long or uncontrollable laughing.
   • 1873, Charles Reade, chapter VI, in A Simpleton: A Story of the Day […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 193:

     The words were scarcely out of her mouth, when they were greeted with a roar of Homeric laughter that literally shook the room, and this time not at the expense of the innocent speaker.

   • 1916, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter III, in Malvina of Brittany‎^[1]:

     But the Professor! He ought to have exploded in a burst of Homeric laughter, or else to have shaken his head at her and warned her where little girls go to who do this sort of thing.

Translations

boisterous laughter

• Dutch: homerisch gelach n, homerische lach m
• French: rire homérique (fr) m
• German: homerisches Gelächter n
• Romanian: râs homeric (ro) n
• Russian: гомери́ческий хо́хот m (gomeríčeskij xóxot)