Word.ws English Dictionary

gelotology

Syllables: ge·lo·to·logy/ˌd͡ʒɛləˈtɒləd͡ʒi/US/ˌd͡ʒɛləˈtɑləd͡ʒi/

gelotology noun: the study of humour and laughter, and its effects on the body.

gelotology: the study of humour and laughter, and its effects on the body
Image: Worthy FM from Pilton, Somerset, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

gelotology (uncountable)

  1. The study of humour and laughter, and its effects on the body.
    • Let's not develop a cult of laughology (though the study of laughter in medicine has already been christened gelotology from the Greek root meaning "laughter.") Humor is an important and documented adjunct in the life of both the well and the unwell, but as a therapy it rarely can stand alone.1996, Robert R. Cadmus, “Humor and Enhanced Well-being in the Later Years”, in Len Sperry, Harry Prosen, editors, Aging in the Twenty-first Century: A Developmental Perspective (Issues in Aging; 5...
    • One of the founders of gelotology (gelos is Greek for "laughter"), Stanford University professor William F. Fry, also experimented on himself in the early 1960s. He drew blood samples at regular intervals while watching Laurel and Hardy and other comedic movies and had the samples analyzed. He...2005 October 1, Charmaine Liebertz, “A Healthy Laugh”, in John Rennie, editor, Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature American, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2021

Examples of gelotology in a sentence

  • One of the founders of gelotology (gelos is Greek for "laughter"), Stanford University professor William F.2005 October 1, Charmaine Liebertz, “A Healthy Laugh”, in John Rennie, editor, Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature...
  • Gelotology, the study of laughter, was established in the late 1960s in an effort to determine the possible physiological and psychological effects humor and laughter can have.2013 November 29, Robert T. Muller, “LOL: How Laughter can Improve Your Health”, in Psychology Today, New York, N.Y.: Sussex Publishers...

Origin of gelotology

From Ancient Greek γέλωτος (gélōtos) (the genitive of γέλως (gélōs, “laughter”)) + English -logy (suffix denoting the study of a particular subject), coined by the anthropologist and linguist Edith Trager with participation from the American psychiatrist William F. Fry, Jr. (1924–2014) in March 1964.

Words formed from gelotology

Words that rhyme with gelotology

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about gelotology

What does gelotology mean?
Gelotology means the study of humour and laughter, and its effects on the body.
How do you use gelotology in a sentence?
One of the founders of gelotology (gelos is Greek for "laughter"), Stanford University professor William F.
What part of speech is gelotology?
Gelotology is a noun.
How do you pronounce gelotology?
Gelotology is pronounced /ˌd͡ʒɛləˈtɒləd͡ʒi/ (UK).

Words near gelotology in the dictionary

  1. gelosis
  2. gelosy
  3. gelotological
  4. gelotologist
  5. gelotologists
  6. gelotology
  7. gelotophile
  8. gelotophiles
  9. gelotophobe
  10. gelotophobes
  11. gelotophobia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gelotology (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gelotology.wav.

Cite this entry: “gelotology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gelotology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.