English Explanatory Dictionary

john

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A prostitute's client.
  2. A device or place for urination and defecation: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also (dated) a chamber pot or outhouse.
  3. A Western man traveling in East Asia.
  4. A male mule.
name
  1. A male given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle Ages.
  2. Used generically for a man whose actual name may not be known.
  3. Used frequently to form an idea personified, as in John Bull, John Barleycorn (see derivations below).
  4. Persons of the Christian Bible: John the Baptist; and names possibly referring to one, two or three persons, frequently called "Saint": John the Apostle, John the Evangelist and John of Patmos (also called John the Divine or John the Theologian).
  5. The Gospel of St John, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the fourth of the four gospels.
  6. One of the books in the New Testament of the Bible, the epistles of John (1 John, 2 John and 3 John).
  7. A surname originating as a patronymic.
noun
  1. A new recruit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
  2. Alternative letter-case form of john (“a toilet, lavatory, outhouse, chamber pot”).
  3. An excuse, chiefly made by a losing player for their poor performance.

Pronunciation

/ˈd͡ʒɑn/ /ˈd͡ʒɒn/ en-us-john.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-john.wav /d͡ʒɒn/ /d͡ʒɑn/ En-au-John.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-John.wav

Word forms

john johns Jon Joh.

Etymology

From the male given name John (q.v.), whose ubiquity led to extensive use of the name in generic contexts. Its use for toilets derives from John and Cousin John, which both probably relate to jacques and jakes, used in equivalent senses by the British and Irish.

Synonyms

all-nighter curb crawler fare gonk jane jockey john kerb crawler monger muttonmonger punter score short-timer steamer trick wapping cove whoremaster whoremonger can chamber chamber pot chemical toilet commode Cousin John crapper gazunder guzunder honey bucket honeypot Jerry johnny jordan latrine mingo necessary stool pan pee pot pisspot piss pot po pot potty potty-chair shitbucket shitcan shitpot slop bucket stool stool of easement throne thunder mug toilet urinal big white telephone bog crapper trapper donniker dunny head highway to hell

Related words

roti john Matthew Mark Luke Jane Janey Janie Jean Jeanie Jenna Jenni Jennie Jenny Joan Joanna Joanne Johnnie Johnny Euan Evan Ewan Iain Ian Ivan Jack Juan Sean Shane Shaun Yahya Bevan Bevans Evans Evens Hance Hancock Hancocks Hancox Handcock Hankin Hankins Hankinson Hanks Hann Hansom Hanson Heaven Heavens Ianson Ions Ivins Jackett Jacks Jackson Jaggs Jain Janes Janson Jayne Jaynes

Derived words

johnny house john school long john long johns poor-john portajohn port-o-john rent-a-john square john whisky john General Dear John Dear John letter High John root John 50 John A. Grindle John Asscroft John Audley John Barleycorn John Bircher John Bull John Collins John Deere John Doe John Dory John Fraud Kerry John-go-to-bed-at-noon John Hancock John Henry John Henryism John Hop John Mastodon Johnny Reb John Orderly John Q. Public John Radcliffe Johns River John's wort John the Baptist John the Conqueror root John Thomas shrubby St. John's wort Sir John Lack-Latin St John St. John's bread St. John's Day St. John's wort tomjohn Tommy John surgery Place names Dinnington St John's Fort St. John John Day John O'Gaunt Peasedown St John Saint John Saint John Figtree Saint John's St. John St John's

Translations

Oromo: Yohaannis Afrikaans: Johan Afrikaans: Jan Afrikaans: Johannes Aghwan: 𐔺𐕒𐕆𐔰𐕎𐔰𐕎 Albanian: Gjon Albanian: Jahja Albanian: Jahi Albanian: Jahia Amharic: ዮሐንስ Arabic: يُوحَنَّا Arabic: يَحْيَى Arabic: جُون Aragonese: Chuan Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ Aramaic: יוחנן Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ Armenian: Հովհաննես Old Armenian: Յովհաննէս Aromanian: Ioannis Asturian: Xuan Azerbaijani: İoann Azerbaijani: Con Basque: Jon Belarusian: Ян Belarusian: Іаан Belarusian: Іван Belarusian: Джон Bengali: জন Breton: Yann Bulgarian: Йоан Bulgarian: Иван Bulgarian: Джон Carolinian: Wan Catalan: Joan Cebuano: Juan Chinese Cantonese: 約翰 /约翰 Eastern Min Chinese: 約翰 /约翰 Chinese: 約翰 /约翰 Chinese Mandarin: 約翰 /约翰 Coptic: ⲓⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ Coptic: ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ Cornish: Jowann Corsican: Ghjuvanni Czech: Jan Danish: Jens Danish: Johannes Dutch: Jan Dutch: Johan Dutch: Johannes Esperanto: Johano Estonian: Jaan Estonian: Juhan Extremaduran: Huan Faroese: Jóhannis Faroese: Jóhannes Faroese: Jóannes Faroese: Jógvan Finnish: Juhana Finnish: Juhani Finnish: Juha Franco-Provençal: Jouan Franco-Provençal: Jian French: Jean Middle French: Jehan
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