cachinnate
verb
cach·in·nate ˈka-kə-ˌnāt 
cachinnated; cachinnating
intransitive verb
: to laugh loudly or immoderately
cachinnated till his sides must have ached
John Burroughs
John Burroughs cachinnation
ˌka-kə-ˈnā-shən
noun 
Did you know?
Cachinnate has been whooping it up in English since the 19th century. The word derives from the Latin verb cachinnare, meaning "to laugh loudly," and cachinnare was probably coined in imitation of a loud laugh. As such, cachinnare is much like the Old English ceahhetan, the Old High German kachazzen, and the Greek kachazein—all words of imitative origin that essentially meant "to laugh loudly." Our words giggle and guffaw are unrelated to those (and to each other) but they too are believed to have been modeled after the sound of laughter.
Word History
Etymology
Latin cachinnatus, past participle of cachinnare, of imitative origin
First Known Use
1824, in the meaning defined above
cachinnation
noun
as in laughter
an explosive sound that is a sign of amusement during the quiet scenes of the movie we could hear occasional eruptions of cachinnation from the adjacent theater Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- laughter
- chuckle
- giggle
- laugh
- snicker
- smile
- chortle
- titter
- guffaw
- horselaugh
- grin
- snigger
- belly laugh
- smirk
- cackle
- boffo
- twitter
- hee-haw
- crow
- boff
- whoop
- boffola
- simper
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- groan
- cry
- wail
- moan
- grimace
- sob
- mouth
- scowl
- frown
- face
- pout
- lower
- lour