gelotology

Etymology

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