Did You Know?
Don't let the etymology of "jocund" play tricks on you. The word comes from "jucundus," a Latin word meaning "agreeable" or "delightful," and ultimately from the Latin verb "juvare," meaning "to help." But "jucundus" looks and sounds a bit like "jocus," the Latin word for "joke." These two roots took a lively romp through many centuries together and along the way the lighthearted "jocus" influenced the spelling and meaning of "jucundus," an interaction that eventually produced our Modern English word "jocund" in the 14th century.