noun
humor
A bodily fluid, especially one formerly believed to govern health and temperament.
Ancient medical theory links each humor to a particular temperament.
Etymology
Latin humor means moisture or liquid. Older medicine used the word for the bodily fluids whose balance was believed to determine health and temperament.
More examples
- Blood is one of the four humors in ancient medicine.
- The aqueous humor helps maintain pressure inside the eye.
- Early physicians blamed illness on an imbalance of the humors.
Forms
humor · humors
humoral adjective — Relating to bodily fluids or humors.
Similar words
- fluid
- Fluid is broader and need not occur inside the body.