# joke
## English
### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /d͡ʒəʊk/
* (US) IPA: /d͡ʒoʊk/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -əʊk
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### Noun

joke (plural jokes)
* An amusing story.
** 1708, John Gay, Wine:Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.
* Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.
    It was a joke!
** 1733–1737, Alexander Pope, [Imitations of Horace], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley [et al.]:
* (figuratively) The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one
* (figuratively) A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.
    Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.
    The president was a joke.
** 1943 September and October, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 272:The other wheel on the tender of the L.N.W.R. engines operated the tender brake, and this was always rather a joke. Sometimes it operated with good results and on other occasions it did not.
* (figuratively) Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.
    The final exam was a joke.

#### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:joke

#### Coordinate terms

* comedy
* limerick
* parody
* pun

#### Derived terms

* all jokes aside
* anti-joke
* bad joke
* blonde joke
* brown joke
* dad joke
* dial-a-joke
* dirty joke
* fourth wall joke
* green joke
* half joke
* in-joke
* inside joke
* Irish joke
* joke book
* jokeful
* joke Joyce
* jokeless
* joke shop
* jokesome
* joke theft
* joke thief
* jokey
* jokish
* Kerryman joke
* knock-knock joke
* knock knock joke
* light bulb joke
* make a joke of
* Newfie joke
* no joke
* one joke
* practical joke
* private joke
* running joke
* sick joke
* standing joke
* take a joke
* the joke is on someone
* the jokes write themselves
* there's a grain of truth in every joke

#### Related terms

* jocular

#### Collocations

Adjectives often applied to "joke": old, bad, inside, poor, silly, funny, lame, hilarious, stupid, offensive.

#### Descendants

* → Danish: joke
* → French: joke
* → Persian: جوک
* → Japanese: ジョーク, → Japanese: 冗句
* → Welsh: jôc

#### Translations
### Verb

joke (third-person singular simple present jokes, present participle joking, simple past and past participle joked)
* (intransitive) To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.
    I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking.
* (intransitive, followed by with) To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with.
    Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.
* (transitive, dated) To make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally.
    to joke a comrade
** 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 21, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:He made more than one visit to Oxbridge, where the young fellows were amused by entertaining the old gentleman, and gave parties and breakfasts and fêtes, partly to joke him and partly to do him honour.

#### Derived terms

* joke around
* joke it up
* joke up
* joking relationship

#### Related terms

* joker

#### Translations
### See also

* jeer
* mock

### Anagrams

* ojek

## Danish
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from English joke.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈd̥jɔwɡ̊]

#### Noun

joke c (singular definite joken, plural indefinite jokes)
* joke

##### Synonyms

* spøg
* vits
* vittighed

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from English joke.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈd̥jɔwɡ̊ə], (imperative) IPA: [ˈd̥jɔwˀɡ̊]

#### Verb

joke (past tense jokede, past participle joket)
* joke

##### Conjugation

activepassive
present
joker
jokes
past
jokede
jokedes
infinitive
joke
jokes
imperative
joke
participle
present
jokende
past
joket (auxiliary verb have)
gerund
joken :

##### Synonyms

* spøge

## French
### Etymology

From English joke.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dʒok/
* (Quebec) IPA: /dʒoʊk/
* Audio (Canada):(file)

### Noun

joke f (plural jokes)
* (North America) joke
** 2009, Robert Maltais, Le Curé du Mile End, page 195:Non, non, c’est juste une joke. Garde-lé, ton vingt piastres.No, no, that was a joke. Keep it, your twenty bucks.

#### Derived terms

* faire une joke