English

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Etymology

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From Latin irrīsiō, from irrīdēre, present active infinitive of irrīdeō (I laugh at); ir- (in) + rīdeō (I laugh): compare French irrision.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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irrision (countable and uncountable, plural irrisions)

  1. (obsolete) The act of laughing at another; derision.
    • [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. [], London: [] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, [], new edition, volumes (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., [], 1843, →OCLC:
      This being spoken scopticè, or by way of irrision.
      The spelling has been modernized.
    • 1630, John Donne, Sermon Preached at Whitehall:
      From thence he was carried back to Jerusalem, first to Annas, then to Caiaphas, and (as late as it was) then he was examined and buffeted, and delivered over to the custody of those officers from whom he received all those irrisions []