English word origin

Etymology of hoax

Reportedly a form of hocus. Possibly from hocus-pocus or Latin iocus (“joke”). Compare hokey.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

Anything deliberately intended to deceive or trick.

verb

To deceive (someone) by making them believe something that has been maliciously or mischievously fabricated.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Reportedly a form of hocus. Possibly from hocus-pocus or Latin iocus (“joke”). Compare hokey.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentioniocusla

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "iocus",
        "4": "",
        "5": "joke"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin iocus (“joke”)"
    }
  ],
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      "hocus#English"
    ],
    [
      "hocus-pocus",
      "hocus-pocus#English"
    ],
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      "iocus",
      "iocus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "joke",
      "joke"
    ],
    [
      "hokey",
      "hokey#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Anything deliberately intended to deceive or trick."
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 204457
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To deceive (someone) by making them believe something that has been maliciously or mischievously fabricated."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for hoax →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-aG9heA