Etymologically
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joke

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /dʒəʊk/, US /dʒoʊk/[1]

Etymology

It was originally slang,[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Latin iocus (“joke, jest, sport, pastime”),[2][5][3] from Proto-Italic *joko-, from Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak”),[2][5] the source also of Welsh iaith “language” and Old High German jehan “to say”.[2][5][6] The SOED compares German Jux “joke, spree” and Dutch jok “jest”.[7] The verb is from the noun or from Latin iocārī “to jest”.[2][7] It is related to jocular, jocund, juggle and jewel.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something said or done to excite laughter: 1670 in the OED and Barnhart, spelled joque,[9][5][3] the 1660s in Etymonline.[2] The verb, “to make jokes”, is also from 1670.[9][5]

Semantic evolution

“Something not serious, a jesting matter” is from 1726, and no joke means a serious matter;[9] a laughing-stock is from 1791,[9][2] and “someone or something not to be taken seriously” from 1791 in Etymonline.[2] Black joke was old slang for a smutty song (1733).[2] The verb “to poke fun at” is from 1748,[9] and you must be joking and the like, expressing disbelief, from 1907.[9] The joker is one who jokes from 1729, and the odd card in a pack from 1885.[5] Johnson defined joke as “a jest; something not serious”.[10]

Timeline

  • 1670 – a jest; verb, to make jokes.[9][5]
  • 1726 – a jesting matter.[9]
  • 1729 – joker.[5]
  • 1748 – to make fun of.[9]
  • 1791 – a laughing-stock.[9][2]
  • 1907 – you must be joking.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Something said or done to cause laughter, especially a short story with a punch line.
  2. A mischievous trick; a prank.
  3. An amusing or absurd situation.
  4. Something not to be taken seriously, or an object of ridicule.

Verb

  1. To tell or play jokes; to jest.
  2. To speak in fun.
  3. To make fun of; to tease.

Word family

  • jokingly
  • jokeless
  • jokester
  • joky
  • jokey
  • in-joke
  • practical joke
  • running joke
  • jocular
  • joker
  • jocund
  • juggle
  • jewel
  • jest
  • jeopardy

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.