Joke

As a noun, it is something said or done to make people laugh. As a verb, it means to say things in a playful or not-serious way.

From Latin “jocus,” meaning “joke, sport, or game,” which passed into Old French “joc” and then English. The root also appears in words like “jocular” and “jocose,” meaning playful or humorous. Over time, “joke” became the everyday English word for a specific funny remark or story.