joc

Forms

joc n (plural jocuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iocus (“joke, jest”).^{[2][3][4][1][5][6]} In Latin the word meant a jest in words, while a game in action was lūdus; the Romance languages gave it the sense of play.^[7][8] The sense of dance comes from Slavic influence, after Serbo-Croatian igra, which in Serbian as in Bulgarian means both game and dance.^[4][5][9]

It survives in all four branches: Aromanian gioc, Megleno-Romanian joc and Istro-Romanian joc.^[2][1][10] Its Romance cognates include Italian giuoco, Occitan joc, French jeu, Spanish juego and Portuguese jogo.^[2][6]

De Vaan traces the Latin noun to Proto-Indo-European *iok-o- (“word, utterance”), with cognates such as Welsh iaith (“language”) and Old High German jehan (“to say, utter”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a Gospel book of 1551–1553, at Matthew 27:29.^[9] MDA2 dates the word from Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Romanian kept the Latin sense of jesting in the phrase a-și bate joc “to mock”, from which batjocură “mockery” was formed.^[4][6] The ordinary sense is play and games, children's games first, then games with rules and games of chance.^[4][12] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 glosses it both with Latin lusus “game” and with saltatio “dance”, and joc is still the usual word for a folk dance and for a village dance party.^[13][12]

Modern senses include acting on stage, a team sport, and the quick play of light or water (jocul valurilor); joc de societate and joc de cuvinte “pun” are modelled on French jeu de société and jeu de mots.^[4][3][12] DER notes that Ruthenian and Russian borrowed the word from Romanian.^[2]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – joc in a Gospel book (Matthew 27:29).^[9]
• 1643 – joc in Varlaam's Cazania, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda glosses jocu “game” and “dance”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. play, a game: an activity done for amusement, especially by children.^[12][3][1]
2. A folk dance; a village party with dancing; the tune danced to.^[12][1]
3. (figurative) A quick, shifting movement of light, water or images: jocul valurilor.^[12]
4. A team sport or a match of one, such as football or basketball.^[12]
5. The acting of a role on stage, and the way it is acted.^[12][2]
6. A game of chance played with cards, dice and the like, usually for money: joc de noroc.^[12][3]

Word family

• joacă
• batjocură

Related words

• juca
• jucărie
• jucător
• Aromanian gioc
• Latin iocus

Usage notes

A-și bate joc de cineva means “to make fun of someone”, a fi în joc “to be at stake”, and Jocurile Olimpice are the Olympic Games.^[4][3] The plural is jocuri.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. joc
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1286
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. joc
5. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 79
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4588
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 716
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. joc
10. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 118
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 566
13. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 335