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Jane

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: jane, janë, and Janė

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Variant of Jeanne, from French Jeanne, from Middle French Jehanne, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack and earlier use of Joan in the same role.

Doublet of Gianna, Ivana, Jana, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Jane (plural Janes)

  1. A female given name from French, the standard feminine form of John since the 17th century.
    • 1605, William Camden, Remains Concerning Britain, John Russell Smith, published 1870, pages 103–104:
      In latter years some of the better and nicer sort, misliking Joan, have mollified the name of Joan into Jane, as it may seem, for that Jane is never found in old Records; and as some will, never before the time of King Henry the eight.
    • 1830, Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names::
      People will please their fancies, and every lady has favourite names. I myself have several, and they are mostly short and simple. Jane, that queenly name! Jane Seymour, Jane Grey, 'the noble Jane de Montford;' - - -
    • 1912 Saki (H.H.Munro), The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope:
      "What I mean is," said Mrs. Riversedge, "that when I get maids with unsuitable names I call them Jane; they soon get used to it."
      "An excellent plan," said the aunt of Clovis coldly; "unfortunately I have got used to being called Jane myself. It happens to be my name."
    • 2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club‎, archived from the original on 27 January 2017:
      On some level, the filmmakers behind Monster Trucks must have recognized the ill fit of Till playing a teenager, because they cast Jane Levy, a 27-year-old who can pass for younger but not a decade younger, as Meredith, a nerdy classmate of Tripp’s who moons over him as she insists on making an appointment to tutor him in biology. […] Till is somewhere on the Hemsworth spectrum (more engaging than Liam; not as charismatic at Chris), but Levy is wholly charming as his enthusiastic sidekick.
    • 2024 December 14, Elizabeth Wagmeister, “Jay-Z says inconsistencies in rape accuser’s story proves her attorney was looking for ‘money and fame’”, in CNN‎:
      In the amended complaint, Carter is accused of raping the then-13-year-old Jane Doe at an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards in the year 2000.
  2. A surname originating as a patronymic derived from a Middle English variant of John.

Derived terms

variants and pet forms

Translations

Noun

Jane (plural Janes)

  1. (colloquial) used as a placeholder name for any woman, especially a young working-class woman
  2. (slang) A girlfriend.
    What happened to your regular Jane?
  3. Alternative letter-case form of jane (“female client of a prostitute”).

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Anagrams

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Czech

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Jane

  1. vocative singular of Jan

Alternative forms

  • Jene (archaic)

Danish

Proper noun

Jane

  1. a diminutive of the female given names Christiane, Juliane, or Mariane, equivalent to English Jane

Estonian

Proper noun

Jane

  1. a female given name, variant of Janne

Norwegian

Proper noun

Jane

  1. a female given name derived from Johanne, or borrowed from English

Swedish

Proper noun

Jane c (genitive Janes)

  1. a female given name from English, (less often) Danish, or Norwegian

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