different between comedian vs joke

English

Etymology

comedy +? -ian. From Middle French comédien, from comédie (“comedy”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /k??mi?di.?n/

Noun

comedian (plural comedians) (feminine: comedienne)

1. An entertainer who performs in a humorous manner, especially by telling jokes.

   Synonym: comic

2. (by extension) Any person who is humorous or amusing, either characteristically or on a particular occasion.

   Synonyms: card, cutup, gagster, joker, wag, wit

3. (dated) A person who performs in theatrical plays.

   Synonyms: actor, player, thespian

   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, Scene 2,^[1]

     […] the quick comedians

     Extemporally will stage us, and present

     Our Alexandrian revels;

   • 1714, Susanna Centlivre, The Wonder, London: E. Curll and A. Bettesworth, Preface,^[2]

     I Don’t pretend to write a Preface, either to point out the Beauties, or to excuse the Errors, a judicious Reader may possibly discover in the following Scenes, but to give those excellent Comedians their Due, to whom, in some Measure the best Dramatick Writers are oblig’d.

   • 1755, George Colman, The Connaisseur, London: R. Baldwin, Volume 1, p. 1,^[3]

     When a Comedian, celebrated for his excellence in the part of Shylock, first undertook that character, he made daily visits to the center of business, the ’Change, and the adjacent Coffee-houses; that by a frequent intercourse and conversation with “the unforeskinn’d race,” he might habituate himself to their air and deportment.

   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 51,^[4]

     Becky, the nightingale, took the flowers which he threw to her and pressed them to her heart with the air of a consummate comedian.

4. (obsolete) A writer of comedies.
   • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica, London, p. 5,^[5]

     Neither is it recorded that the writings of those old Comedians were supprest, though the acting of them were forbid;

   • 1783, Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, London: Whitestone et al., Volume 3, Lecture 47, p. 377,^[6]

     […] the Dramatic Author, in whom the French glory most, and whom they justly place at the head of all their Comedians, is, the famous Moliere.

Synonyms

• funnyman/funnywoman

Hypernyms

• (male comedian): comedian (male and female)

Hyponyms

• (comedian, male and female): comedian (male), comedienne (female)

See also

• tragedian

Translations

Anagrams

• daemonic, demoniac, dæmonic, midocean

Romanian

Etymology

From French comédien.

Noun

comedian m (plural comedieni)

1. comedian

Declension

English

Etymology

From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jouer, Italian giocare, Portuguese jogar, Spanish juego and jugar, and Romanian juca.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d???k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d?o?k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

joke (plural jokes)

1. An amusing story.
   • 1708, John Gay, Wine

     Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.

2. Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.

   It was a joke!
3. (figuratively) The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one
4. (figuratively) A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.

   Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.

   The president was a joke.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "joke": old, bad, inside, poor, silly, funny, lame, hilarious, stupid, offensive.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:joke

Coordinate terms

• comedy
• limerick
• parody
• pun

Derived terms

Related terms

• jocular

Descendants

• ? Danish: joke
• ? French: joke
• ? Persian: ????
• ? Japanese: ????, ? Japanese: ??
• ? Welsh: jôc

Translations

Verb

joke (third-person singular simple present jokes, present participle joking, simple past and past participle joked)

1. (intransitive) To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.

   I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking.

2. (intransitive, followed by with) To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with.

   Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.

3. (transitive, dated) To make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally.

   to joke a comrade

Related terms

• joker

Translations

See also

• jeer
• mock

Anagrams

• ojek

Danish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?d?j?w??]

Noun

joke c (singular definite joken, plural indefinite jokes)

1. joke

Inflection

Synonyms

• spøg
• vits
• vittighed

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?d?j?w???], (imperative) IPA^(key): [?d?j?w???]

Verb

joke (past tense jokede, past participle joket)

1. joke

Inflection

Synonyms

• spøge

French

Etymology

From English joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?ok/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /d?o?k/

Noun

joke f (plural jokes)

1. (Louisiana, Quebec) joke

Derived terms

• faire une joke