pun

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• enPR: pŭn, IPA: /pʌn/, X-SAMPA: /pVn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

Etymology 1

From Middle English *punen, from Old English punian, pūnian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush, grind”), from Proto-Germanic *punōnan (“to break to pieces, pulverise”). More at pound.

Verb

pun (third-person singular simple present puns, present participle punning, simple past and past participle punned)

1. (transitive) To beat; strike with force; ram; pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder.

Etymology 2

From a special use of Etymology 1 pun (“to beat, bend (words)”).

Noun

pun (plural puns)

1. A joke or type of wordplay in which similar senses or sounds of two words or phrases, or different senses of the same word, are deliberately confused.

Usage notes

• Because some puns are based on pronunciation, puns are more obvious when spoken aloud. For example: “This rock is gneiss, but don’t take it for granite.” This reads (with a US accent) similarly to “This rock is nice, but don’t take it for granted.” (Both “gneiss” and “granite” are types of rock.)

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:joke

Translations

joke or type of wordplay

• Arabic: لعبة الكلمات (ar) (la`bat al-kalamaat) f, جناس (ar) (jinaas) m
• Armenian: բառախաղ (hy) (baṙaxaġ)
• Catalan: joc de paraules (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雙關語 (cmn), 双关语 (cmn) (shuāngguānyǔ), 俏皮話 (cmn), 俏皮话 (cmn) (qiàopihuà)

• Czech: slovní hříčka (cs) f
• Danish: ordspil (da) n
• Dutch: woordspeling (nl) f
• Esperanto: vortludo (eo)
• Finnish: sanaleikki (fi)
• French: calembour (fr) m, jeu de mots (fr) m
• Georgian: კალამბური (ka) (kalamburi), ზმა (ka) (zma)
• German: Wortspiel (de) n
• Hebrew: משחק מילים (he) (mis'hak meelim)
• Hungarian: szójáték (hu)
• Irish: imeartas focal (ga) m
• Italian: gioco di parole (it) m, bisticcio (it) m, freddura (it) f

• Japanese: 駄洒落 (ja) (ダジャレ, だじゃれ, dajare), しゃれ (ja) (share), 語呂合わせ (ja) (ごろあわせ, goroawase)
• Macedonian: каламбур (mk) (kálambur) m, игра на зборови (mk) (ígra na zbórovi) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ordspill (no) n

  Nynorsk: ordspel (no) n

• Persian: تجنیس (fa) (tajnis), جناس (fa) (jenâs)
• Polish: gra słów (pl) f, kalambur (pl) m
• Portuguese: trocadilho (pt) m
• Romanian: calambur (ro), joc de cuvinte (ro)
• Russian: каламбур (ru) (kalambúr) m, игра слов (ru) (igrá slov) f
• Scottish Gaelic: cainnt-chluich (gd) f
• Spanish: juego de palabras (es) m, calambur (es)
• Swedish: ordvits (sv) c, ordlek (sv) c
• Telugu: శ్లేష (te) (Slaesha)
• Turkish: kelime oyunu (tr)

Verb

pun (third-person singular simple present puns, present participle punning, simple past and past participle punned)

1. To make or tell a pun; make a play on words.

   We punned about the topic until all around us groaned.

See also

• antanaclasis
• paronomasia

Anagrams

• UPN

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Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• pen, puan

Etymology

From Latin pānis, pānem.

Noun

pun m

1. bread

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Lojban

Rafsi

pun

1. rafsi of pruni.

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA: [pun]

Verb

pun

1. first-person singular present tense form of pune.
2. first-person singular subjunctive form of pune.
3. third-person plural present tense form of pune.

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *pьlnъ, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pûn/

Adjective

pȕn (definite pȕnī, Cyrillic spelling пу̏н)

1. full, filled
2. fleshy, plump
3. full, complete
4. occupied (of room)

Declension

    indefinite forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		pun	puna	puno
genitive		puna	pune	puna
dative		punu	punoj	punu
accusative	inanimate animate	pun puna	punu	puno
vocative		pun	puna	puno
locative		punu	punoj	punu
instrumental		punim	punom	punim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		puni	pune	puna
genitive		punih	punih	punih
dative		punim(a)	punim(a)	punim(a)
accusative		pune	pune	puna
vocative		puni	pune	puna
locative		punim(a)	punim(a)	punim(a)
instrumental		punim(a)	punim(a)	punim(a)

    definite forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		puni	puna	puno
genitive		punog(a)	pune	punog(a)
dative		punom(u/e)	punoj	punom(u/e)
accusative	inanimate animate	puni punog(a)	punu	puno
vocative		puni	puna	puno
locative		punom(e/u)	punoj	punom(e/u)
instrumental		punim	punom	punim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		puni	pune	puna
genitive		punih	punih	punih
dative		punim(a)	punim(a)	punim(a)
accusative		pune	pune	puna
vocative		puni	pune	puna
locative		punim(a)	punim(a)	punim(a)
instrumental		punim(a)	punim(a)	punim(a)

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Spanish

Noun

pun m (usually uncountable)

1. (onomatopoeia) The sound of discharging a firearm
2. (onomatopoeia, vulgar) The sound of flatulence

Synonyms

• pum