Joke
nounA thing said or done to cause amusement or laughter.
How to spell joke
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce joke
What does joke mean?
- nounA thing said or done to cause amusement or laughter.
- verbTo make remarks meant to be funny rather than serious.
Joke in a sentence
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noun
He told a quick joke to break the tension in the meeting.
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verb
She likes to joke with her colleagues during the lunch break.
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noun
The joke went over their heads, so nobody laughed.
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verb
Do not joke about the deadline when the manager is stressed.
Where does joke come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word comes from the Latin jocus, which meant a jest, a piece of fun, or a thing said in play rather than in earnest. It entered English in the late 1600s, originally as slang spelled 'joque', before settling into the familiar 'joke' form. The same Latin root sits behind 'jocular' (full of fun) and the slightly archaic 'jocose', and it travelled into French as 'jeu', meaning a game or play. For modern spellers the word is mercifully regular: the only mild trap is the silent final 'e' that signals the long 'o' sound. Over time the noun broadened to cover anything laughable or ridiculous, as in calling a poor situation 'a joke'.
How the word is built
- jok (from Latin jocus: a jest, joke)
- -e (silent vowel ending in English)
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