Iocorum

Iocorum is a term used in Latin philology and in speculative fiction to denote a theoretical or fictional framework for humor and jest. The word derives from the Latin iocus, ioci, meaning joke or jest, with the genitive plural iocorum, literally "of jokes" or "of jest." In authentic classical sources there is no distinct institution or corpus named iocorum; the term appears mainly in modern scholarship and occasionally in fiction as a convenient label for imagined repositories, schools, or repertoires of witty verse.

In descriptions where iocorum appears, it is typically portrayed as a structured tradition emphasizing brevity, wit, and rhetorical play. It may encompass epigrams, puns, humorous dialogues, and satirical verse designed to entertain and critique social or political life. Its imagined practitioners are often poets, grammarians, or public performers who cultivate a shared set of norms governing humor, audience interaction, and performance style. Some fictional accounts treat iocorum as a curated anthology or a guild archive that preserves exemplary jokes across generations.

Scholarly interest in iocorum, where it exists, tends to illuminate how humor functions within social networks, rhetorical training, and cultural memory. It is sometimes used as a heuristic device in discussions of ancient humor to distinguish everyday jest from more pointed satire. See also iocus, satire, epigram, rhetoric.