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Joke

//d͡ʒəʊk// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An amusing story.

    "Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter."

  2. 2
    a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement wordnet
  3. 3
    Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.

    "It was a joke!"

  4. 4
    activity characterized by good humor wordnet
  5. 5
    The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one figuratively
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    a triviality not to be taken seriously wordnet
  2. 7
    A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham. figuratively

    "Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke."

  3. 8
    a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter wordnet
  4. 9
    Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected. figuratively

    "The final exam was a joke."

Verb
  1. 1
    To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously. intransitive

    "I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking."

  2. 2
    act in a funny or teasing way wordnet
  3. 3
    To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with. intransitive

    "Relax, man, I'm just joking with you."

  4. 4
    tell a joke; speak humorously wordnet
  5. 5
    To make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally. dated, transitive

    "to joke a comrade"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

Etymology 2

From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

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