humeurs

Humeurs is a French noun that functions as the plural form of humeur. In everyday French, humeur denotes mood or disposition, for example bonne humeur (good mood) or mauvaise humeur (bad mood). In English-language contexts, humeurs may appear mainly when discussing French language or historical medicine; it is not a standard term in modern medical or psychological usage.

Historically, the term embellishes the humoral theory of medicine. The four humors—blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile—were thought to balance to determine health and temperament. This framework, rooted in ancient Greek medicine and developed by Galen, influenced medical practice for many centuries and gave rise to descriptive temperaments such as sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric. The theory declined with modern physiology and chemistry, but its legacy persists in literature and language.

In contemporary psychology and medicine, mood refers to an enduring affective state that is not explained by fluid balance. Mood describes the baseline emotional tone over hours or days, while emotions are more transient. In French, humeur remains the standard word for mood, with phrases like avoir une bonne humeur or tenir de mauvaise humeur. In English, humour and humor share a root with humeur but now have distinct meanings: humour in historical medicine, humor meaning wit or amusement in everyday speech.

Related terms include mood, temperament, and humoral theory.