pun

See also: pu·n, Pun., and pún

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: pŭn, IPA^(key): /pʌn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

Etymology 1

From Middle English ponnen, ponen, punen, from Old English punian, pūnian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush, grind”), from Proto-Germanic *punōną (“to break to pieces, pulverize”). See pound. As a kind of word play, from the notion of "beating" the words into place.

Verb

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

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

     He would pun thee into shivers with his fist.

2. (intransitive) To make or tell a pun; to make a play on words.

   We punned about the topic until all around us groaned.

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.

   Synonyms: paronomasia, play on words

   Hypernym: joke

   Hyponym: antanaclasis

   • 1814 July, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Mansfield Park: A Novel. In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 39810224, page 124:

     "Certainly, my home at my uncle's brought me acquainted with a circle of admirals. Of Rears, and Vices, I saw enough. Now do not be suspecting me of a pun, I entreat."

     Austen was likely referring to flogging or spanking, then common naval punishments, known as le vice Anglais.

   The pun is the lowest form of wit.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• punacious
• punnily

• punny
• punster

Translations

joke or type of wordplay

• Arabic: لَعْبَة اَلْكَلِمَات‎ f (laʿbat al-kalimāt), جِنَاس‎ m (jinās)
• Armenian: բառախաղ (hy) (baṙaxał)
• Catalan: joc de paraules (ca) m
• Chinese:

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

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

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

  Bokmål: ordspill (no) n

  Nynorsk: ordspel 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: каламбу́р (ru) m (kalambúr), игра́ слов (ru) f (igrá slov)
• Scottish Gaelic: cainnt-chluich f
• Spanish: juego de palabras (es) m, calambur (es)
• Swedish: ordvits (sv) c, ordlek c
• Tagalog: bangkiwi, paritugma, paandar
• Telugu: శ్లేష (te) (ślēṣa)
• Turkish: kelime oyunu (tr)

Etymology 2

From the McCune-Reischauer romanization of Korean 분 (bun), from Chinese 分 (“fen”)

Noun

pun (plural puns or pun)

1. (Korean units of measure) Alternative form of bun: a Korean unit of length equivalent to about 0.3 cm.

Anagrams

• UPN, nup

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Chuukese

Conjunction

pun

1. because

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Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• puan
• pen (Ragusan dialect)

Etymology

From Latin pānis, pānem.

Noun

pun m

1. (Vegliot) bread

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Malay

Pronunciation

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /pon/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /pʊn/
• Rhymes: -on

Adverb

pun (Jawi spelling ڤون)

1. also

Synonyms

• juga

Related terms

• -pun

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pun]

Verb

pun

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

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /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 (uncountable)

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

Synonyms

• pum