chortle

English

WOTD – 5 April 2006

Etymology

Perhaps a blend of chuckle +‎ snort. Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky, completed in 1855 but only introduced to the public in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: chôr'təl, IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɔɹtəl/, [ˈt͡ʃɔɹɾɫ̩]

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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  Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)təl

Noun

chortle (plural chortles)

1. A joyful, somewhat muffled laugh, rather like a snorting chuckle.

   He frequently interrupted himself with chortles while he told us his favorite joke.

2. A similar sounding vocalisation of various birds.

Synonyms

• chuckle

Translations

joyful, somewhat muffled laugh

• Bulgarian: кикотене (bg) n (kikotene)
• Dutch: luidruchtig grinniken, verkneukelen m
• Finnish: hörötys (fi)
• French: gloussement (fr) m
• German: Glucksen (de)
• Hungarian: kuncog (hu)
• Norwegian: humring c, klukklatter m, snøfting c
• Serbo-Croatian: cerekanje (sh)
• Spanish: carcajada (es) f

Verb

chortle (third-person singular simple present chortles, present participle chortling, simple past and past participle chortled)

1. (intransitive) To laugh with a chortle or chortles.

   The old fellow chortled as he recalled his youthful adventures.

   • 1871, Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky:

     'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy.

Synonyms

• chuckle
• See also Thesaurus:laugh

Derived terms

• chortler
• chortlingly
• snortle

 

Translations

to laugh with a chortle or chortles

• Bulgarian: кикотя се (kikotja se)
• Finnish: höröttää (fi), hörähtää (momentane)
• French: glousser (fr)
• German: glucksen (de) n
• Icelandic: hneggja af hlátri, rýta af hlátri
• Kannada: ^{(please verify)} [script needed] (Kushiada Nage)
• Norwegian: humre (no), klukkle, snøfte