laughter

From Middle English laughter, laghter, laȝter, from Old English hleahtor, meaning laughter, jubilation, or derision. This traces back through Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz to the Proto-Indo-European root *klek- or *kleg-, meaning "to shout."

The Old English form already carried a wide range, covering not just joyful laughter but jubilation and derision too — so the word has long held both warmth and edge within it.

It's cognate with German Gelächter, Danish and Norwegian latter, and Icelandic hlátur, all pointing back to that same Germanic root for laughter. It's also closely tied to the English verb "laugh."