iocus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *jokos, from Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak”). Compare Old High German jehan, Welsh iaith, Breton yezh. Possibly cognate with English Yule, Danish jul, Norwegian Bokmål jul, Swedish jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

Compare typologically Russian прибау́тка (pribaútka) (akin to ба́ять (bájatʹ), ба́йка (bájka)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈjɔ.kʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈjɔː.kus]

Noun

iocus m (genitive iocī); second declension

1. a joke, jest
2. a form of amusement
3. pastime, sport

   Synonyms: lūdus, lūsus

Declension

Second-declension noun (otherwise or neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	iocus	iocī ioca
genitive	iocī	iocōrum
dative	iocō	iocīs
accusative	iocum	iocōs ioca
ablative	iocō	iocīs
vocative	ioce	iocī ioca

The inflection is irregular. The neuter plural is more likely to denote a collective.

Derived terms

• iocāliter
• iocor
• iocōsus
• ioculus

Related terms

• iocābundus
• iocātiō
• iocōsē
• ioculanter
• ioculāria
• ioculāris
• ioculāriter
• ioculārius
• ioculātiō
• ioculātor
• ioculātōrius
• ioculor

Descendants

• Aragonese: chuego
• Aromanian: gioc
• Asturian: xuegu
• Catalan: joc
• Emilian: żûg
• Franco-Provençal: juè
• French: jeu
• Friulian: zûc
• Italian: gioco, giuoco
• Ladin: jech
• Ligurian: zêugo
• Mirandese: jogo
• Neapolitan: juoco
• Occitan: jòc
• Old Galician-Portuguese: jogo
  • Fala: ixhogu, xogu, xhugu, dxugu
  • Galician: xogo
  • Portuguese: jogo
• Romanian: joc
• Romansh: gieu, giug
• Sardinian: giogu, giocu, jogu, jocu, zocu
• Sicilian: jocu
• Spanish: juego
• Venetan: xogo, xugo, zugo
• Walloon: djeu
• Borrowings:
  • → Albanian: hokë
  • → English: joke
    • → Welsh: jôc
  • → German: Jux

References

• "iocus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “jocus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I said it in jest: haec iocatus sum, per iocum dixi
    
  • (ambiguous) joking apart: extra iocum, remoto ioco (Fam. 7. 11. 3)
    
  • (ambiguous) to make a joke: ioco uti (Off. 1. 29. 103)
    
  • (ambiguous) joking apart: extra iocum, remoto ioco (Fam. 7. 11. 3)
    
• “iocus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 308