# pun

> English word · Verb · IPA /pʌn/ · frequency rank #13,993

## Definitions
1. To beat; strike with force; to ram; to pound, as in a mortar; reduce to powder, to pulverize.
2. To make or tell a pun; to make a play on words.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **PV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pv)
- **PW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pw)
- **PX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-px)
- **put** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-put)
- **pup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pup)
- **PVC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pvc)
- **PvP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pvp)
- **pus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pus)
- **PWC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pwc)
- **pur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pur)
- **pye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pye)
- **push** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-push)
- **pure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pure)
- **puts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-puts)
- **punk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-punk)
- **punt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-punt)
- **Pune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pune)
- **pups** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-pups)
- **putt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-putt)
- **puns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pun-vs-puns)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pun