pun

See also: Appendix:Variations of "pun"

English

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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, obsolete) To beat; strike with force; to ram; to pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder, to pulverize.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     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.

Translations

Translations

• Spanish: alburear (es) (Mexico)

Noun

pun (plural puns)

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

   Synonyms: paronomasia, play on words

   Hypernym: joke

   Hyponym: antanaclasis

   The pun is the lowest form of wit.

   • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, 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.

Derived terms

• no pun intended
• punacious
• pun intended
• punless
• punlike
• punnily
• punny
• pun-off
• punster
• puntastic
• visual pun

 

Translations

joke or type of wordplay

• Albanian: kalambur (sq) m, lojë fjalësh f
• Arabic: لُعْبَة اَلْكَلِمَات f (laʕbat al-kalimāt), جِنَاس m (jinās)
• Armenian: բառախաղ (hy) (baṙaxaġ)
• Belarusian: каламбур m (kalambur), гульня слоў f (hulʹnja sloŭ)
• Bulgarian: игрословица (igroslovica), каламбур (bg) m (kalambur)
• Catalan: joc de paraules (ca) m
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: slovní hříčka f
• Danish: ordspil n
• Dutch: woordspeling (nl) f, woordgrapje (nl) n
• Esperanto: kalemburo, 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
• Greek: λογοπαίγνιο (el) n (logopaígnio)
• Hebrew: מִשְׂחַק מִלִּים (misḥáq milím), לָשׁוֹן נוֹפֵל עַל לָשׁוֹן (he) (lashón nofél 'al lashón)
• Hungarian: szójáték (hu), szóvicc (hu)
• Icelandic: orðaleikur m
• Ido: kalemburo (io)
• Irish: imeartas focal m
• Italian: gioco di parole m, bisticcio (it) m, freddura (it) f
• Japanese: 駄洒落 (ja) (ダジャレ, だじゃれ, dajare), 洒落 (ja) (シャレ, しゃれ, share), 語呂合わせ (ja) (ごろあわせ, goroawase)
• Korean: 말장난 (ko) (maljangnan)
• Macedonian: каламбур m (kalambur), игра на зборови f (igra na zborovi)
• Malay: jenakata
• Maori: kupu angarua
• 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, chalaça (pt) f
• 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), paronomasia (es) f, doble sentido m, albur (es) m (Mexico), retruécano (es) m
• Swedish: ordvits (sv) c, ordlek (sv) c
• Tagalog: bangkiwi, paritugma, paandar
• Telugu: శ్లేష (te) (ślēṣa)
• Tibetan: ཚིག་རྩེད (tshig rtsed)
• Turkish: kelime oyunu (tr)
• Yiddish: ווערטערשפּיל (vertershpil)

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 (“Korean unit of measure”)

Etymology 3

From Hindi [Term?].

Alternative forms

• pund

Noun

pun (plural puns)

1. (India, historical) A certain number of cowries, generally 80.
   • 1864, The Regulations of the Bengal Code in Force in September 1862, page 1019:

     Hackeries and carriages, loaded and empty, 8 annas. Sheep, goats, &c., 1 pun of cowries each.

References

• Henry Yule, A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell (1903) “pun”, in William Crooke, editor, Hobson-Jobson […] , London: John Murray, […].

Anagrams

• N-up, NPU, UPN, nup

Chuukese

Conjunction

pun

1. because

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• puan
• pen (Ragusan dialect)

Etymology

From Latin pānis, pānem.

Noun

pun m

1. (Vegliot) bread

Iban

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *puhun (compare Malay pohon), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *puqun, from Proto-Austronesian *puqun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pun]

Noun

pun

1. tree (large woody plant)

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay pun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpun/, [ˈpun]
• Hyphenation: pun

Adverb

pun

1. also, too

   Synonym: juga

2. even, though, although, nevertheless

   Synonyms: biar, meski, kendati, saja

3. besides
4. any, every

Further reading

• “pun” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Kapampangan

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *puqun, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *puqun, from Proto-Austronesian *puqun. Compare Tagalog puno, Malay pohon, Indonesian pohon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpun/ [ˈpun]

Noun

pun

1. trunk of a tree
2. origin, source

   Synonym: ibat

See also

• dutung

 

Malay

Alternative forms

• pon (informal, slang)

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Austronesian *pa (“still, first, yet”)

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

pun (Jawi spelling ڤون)

1. also
2. even

Synonyms

• juga

Related terms

• -pun

Descendants

• Indonesian: pun

Further reading

• “pun” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pun]

Etymology 1

Verb

pun

1. inflection of pune:
   1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. third-person plural present indicative

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin punicus.

Noun

pun m (plural puni)

1. Punic, Carthaginian

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	pun	punul		puni	punii
genitive-dative	pun	punului		puni	punilor
vocative	punule			punilor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pûn/

Adjective

pȕn (Cyrillic spelling пу̏н, definite pȕnī)

1. full, filled
   • 1980s, Max Vincent AKA Miša Mihajlović (lyrics and music), “Beogradska Devojka”:

     Tako drska i obesna si ti / ti si puna ljubavi

     You are so arrogant and rude / you are full of love

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)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpun/ [ˈpũn]
• Rhymes: -un
• Syllabification: pun

Noun

pun m (uncountable)

1. (onomatopoeia) the sound of discharging a firearm

   Synonym: pum

2. (onomatopoeia, vulgar) the sound of flatulence

Further reading

• “pun”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10