iocus

Latin

Alternative forms

jocus

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak”). Compare Old High German jehan, Welsh iaith, Breton yezh. Cognate with English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈi̯o.kus/, [ˈi̯ɔkʊs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈjo.kus/, [ˈjɔːkus]
Audio (Classical) (file)

Noun

iocus m (genitive iocī); second declension

a joke, jest
a form of amusement
pastime, sport
Synonyms: lūdus, lūsus

Declension

Second-declension noun (otherwise or neuter).

Case	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

→ Albanian: hokë
Aragonese: chuego
Aromanian: gioc
Asturian: xuegu
Catalan: joc
→ English: joke
French: jeu
Friulian: zûc
Galician: xogo
→ German: Jux
Italian: gioco, giuoco
Ladin: jech
Ligurian: zêugo
Occitan : jòc
Portuguese: jogo
Romanian: joc
Romansch: gieu, giug
Sardinian: giogu, giocu, jogu, jocu, zocu
Sicilian: jocu
Spanish: juego
Venetian: xogo, xugo, zugo
Walloon: djeu
→ Welsh: jôc

References

iocus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s 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, 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