lachen

Lachen is a German verb meaning to laugh. It denotes the act of producing laughter through vocalization and facial expression. In standard German, the present tense forms include ich lache, du lachst, er lacht; the simple past is ich lachte, and the perfect is ich habe gelacht. The noun das Lachen refers to the act or sound of laughter, and the word appears in idiomatic expressions such as Lachen ist gesund.

Laughter is a universal human behavior. Physiologically, it involves the coordination of the diaphragm, respiratory muscles, and vocal cords, mediated by neural networks in the brain’s frontal and limbic regions. Social context matters: laughter frequently arises in groups and can signal play, relieve tension, and reinforce social bonds. It can trigger endorphin release and influence stress responses, contributing to perceived well-being.

From a cultural and scientific perspective, Lachen has been studied across disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and gelotology, the study of laughter. Researchers distinguish spontaneous laughter from deliberate or feigned laughter and examine its communicative, health, and social effects.

Lachen is also the name of a municipality in Switzerland. It is located in the district of March in the canton of Schwyz.