verb
gelamō
Strong’sG1070
I laugh
stem gel-2 times in the New Testament2 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
γελάω, -ῶ,
[in LXX chiefly for צחק, שׂחק;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1070 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidghel-ah'-o
to laugh (as a sign of joy or satisfaction)
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jameslaugh.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Epic dialect γελόω Refs 8th c.BC+, Aeolic dialect γέλαιμι Refs; Epic dialect participle γελόωντες Refs 8th c.BC+; Epic dialect imperfect γελώων or -οίωνRefs; Doric dialect participle γελᾶσα, 3rd.pers. plural γελᾶντι, Refs 3rd c.BC+; Aeolic dialect γελαίσας Refs 7th c.BC+: Attic dialect future γελάσομαι Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐγέλᾰσα Refs 5th c.BC+; Epic dialect ἐγέλασσα Refs 8th c.BC+; Doric dialect ἐγέλαξα Refs 3rd c.BC+; 3rd.pers. plural γέλαν for ἐγέλασαν poetical cited in Refs:—passive, future -ασθήσομαιRefs 2nd c.AD+: aorist ἐγελάσθην Refs 5th c.BC+perfect γεγέλασται Refs 2nd c.AD+
I absolutely, laugh, ἁπαλὸν γελάσαι Refs 8th c.BC+; ἡ δ᾽ ἐγέλασσε χείλεσιν, of feigned laughter, Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐγέλασσε δέ οἱ φίλον ἦτορ his heart laughed within him,Refs 5th c.BC+ —passive, εἵνεκα τοῦ γελασθῆι αι for the sake of a laugh being raised, Refs 4th c.BC+
I.2 of things, γέλασσε δὲ πᾶσα περὶ χθών Refs 8th c.BC+
II laugh at, ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ἡδὺ γέλασσαν Refs 8th c.BC+; γελᾷ δὲ δαίμων ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρὶ θερμῷ laughs scornfully at.., Refs 4th c.BC+; ἐπί τινι at a thing, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐγέλασα ψολοκομπίαις was amused at them, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 with accusative, deride, τινά Refs 5th c.BC+; τί δὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἐγέλασας ἐτεόν; what is this you are laughing at? Refs 5th c.BC+:—passive, to be derided, Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| gelaviγελάσετε | will happen · yefuture active indicative 2nd person plural | laugh | 1× |
| gelarōntoirγελῶντες | happening now · direct addresspresent active participle vocative plural masculine | laugh | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | gelamō | gelame | gelami | gelama | gelamē | gelamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | gelasō | gelase | gelasi | gelasa | gelasē | gelaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | gelatō | gelate | gelati | gelata | gelatē | gelatelē |
| we 1st person plural | gelanō | gelane | gelani | gelana | gelanē | gelanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | gelavō | gelave | gelavi1×γελάσετε | gelava | gelavē | gelavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | gelalō | gelale | gelali | gelala | gelalē | gelalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | gelameiō | gelameia | gelameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | gelaseiō | gelaseia | gelaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | gelateiō | gelateia | gelateiē |
| we 1st person plural | gelaneiō | gelaneia | gelaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | gelaveiō | gelaveia | gelaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | gelaleiō | gelaleia | gelaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | gelasōr | gelasar | gelasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | gelatōr | gelatar | gelatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | gelavōr | gelavar | gelavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | gelalōr | gelalar | gelalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | gelamoiō | gelamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | gelasoiō | gelasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | gelatoiō | gelatoia |
| we 1st person plural | gelanoiō | gelanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | gelavoiō | gelavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | gelaloiō | gelaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | gelarō | gelari | gelara | gelarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | gelarōntos1× | gelarintos | gelarantos | gelarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
gel is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
2 occurrences, every one of them listed
gelavi“laugh”will happen · yefuture active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Luke 6:21… chortazivi. makariois tois klaiarōntois nun, hoti gelavi.… who weep now, for you will laugh.
gelarōntoir“laugh”happening now · direct addresspresent active participle vocative plural masculine1×
Luke 6:25… empimplēorēntoir nun, hoti peinavi. ouai, tois gelarōntoir nun, hoti penthavi kai klaiavi.… will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and …