Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

John

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Remove ads
See also: john

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English John, Johan, Johannes, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Late Latin Iōhannēs, variant of Latin Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”).

Doublet of Jack, Jon, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Sean, Shane, Shaun, Ian, Ivan, Evan, Juan, Giovanni, and Yahya.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

John (plural Johns)

Gospel of John on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
John on Wikisource.Wikisource
Wiktionary has an Appendix listing books of the Bible

  1. A male given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle Ages.
    • 1852 August, D. H. Jacques, “A Chapter on Names”, in The Knickerbocker, or, New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XL, page 114:
      John is a most excellent name, and Smith is a surname which is worthy of respect and honor, but wo to the man on whom they are conjoined! For John Smith to aspire to senatorial dignities or to the laurel of a poet is simply ridiculous. Who is John Smith? He is lost in the multitude of John Smiths, and individual fame is impossible.
    • 1920, John Collings Squire, “Initials”, in Life and Letters: Essays, Hodder & Stoughton, pages 233–235:
      The name I refer to is John. It has been borne by many illustrious men and an innumerable multitude of the obscure. - - - It is as fixed as the English landscape and the procession of seasons. It never becomes wearisome or tarnished. Nothing affects it; nothing can bring it into contempt; it stands like a rock amid the turbulent waves of human history, as fine and noble a thing now as it was when it first took shape on human lips. It is a name to live up to; but if one who bears it sinks into disrepute it falls not with him, but rather stays in the firmament above him, shining down upon him like a reproachful star.
    • 2025 February 4, Shania Shelton and Morgan Rimmer, “Senate votes to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general”, in CNN‎:
      The vote was 54-46. The vote was mostly along party lines though Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania joined Republicans in supporting Bondi.
    1. (informal) Used generically for a man whose actual name may not be known.
      a John Doe murder case; the dreaded Dear John letter; if we were to ask John Q. Public his opinion
    2. (informal) Used frequently to form an idea personified, as in John Bull, John Barleycorn (see derivations below).
  2. (biblical) 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).
  4. (biblical) The Gospel of St. John, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the fourth of the four gospels.
    Synonym: Joh. (abbreviation)
    Comeronyms: Matthew, Mark, Luke
  5. (biblical) One of the books in the New Testament of the Bible, the epistles of John (1 John, 2 John and 3 John).
  6. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Synonyms

  • (name used to address a man whose actual name is not known (standard)): sir
  • (name used to address a man whose actual name is not known (colloquial or slang)): boy (especially to a younger man), bro (US, New Zealand), gov or guv (British), guvnor (British), Mac (US), man (especially US), mate (British, Australian), mister, son (to a younger man), buddy (Canada)

Derived terms

General
Place names
  • (feminine forms of John):
  • (diminutives):
  • (male names related to given name John):
  • (surnames related to the given name John):

Descendants

  • → Arabic: جُون (jōn)
  • → Cebuano: John
  • → French: John
  • → Italian: John

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

John (plural Johns)

  1. (UK, military, slang) A new recruit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
    • 1842, The United Service Magazine:
      I and the other "Johns," as I soon discovered all new-comers at Sandhurst were, and are still, styled, although at the time I was unconscious of it, managed to troop in after the A company, but although not two minutes after them, found all the different messes already seated and hard at work.
    • 2017, Verity McInnis, Women of Empire:
      To avoid bullying, first-year “Johns” (from Johnny Raw) “fagged” for senior classmen known as “Regs.” Fagging included making beds, running messages, and smuggling contraband.
  2. (US, slang, archaic) Alternative letter-case form of john (“a toilet, lavatory, outhouse, chamber pot”).
  3. (video games, Super Smash Bros.) An excuse, chiefly made by a losing player for their poor performance.
    Remember, no Johns.
    • 2005 December 3, 3:53 from the start, in NO JOHNS‎, spoken by John Michael "SOS" Howard, published 6 June 2007 via YouTube, archived from the original on 24 October 2024:
      This is the sound of a John. A John. He wants to wait.
    • 2009, Daniel O'hair, “A Smashing Experience”, in Jennifer Oato, editor, Klipsun Magazine‎, volume 40, number 1, archived from the original on 20 June 2016, page 10:
      Bursting from the inaudible chatter of many smiling faces, a thunderous voice emerges, “No Johns, son!”
    • 2014, 0:47 from the start, in Smash Bros. - Reggie's Message to Fans - Evo 2014‎, spoken by Reggie Fils-Aimé, IGN, via YouTube, archived from the original on 18 July 2014:
      You never know, I might show up to challenge you someday. And if we ever do get to go head to head: Please, no Johns.
    • 2019 September 16, Cecilia D'Anastasio, “How A High School Smash Bros. Joke Became A World-Famous Saying”, in Kotaku‎, archived from the original on 23 November 2019:
      I didn’t get any hand warmers. I didn’t warm up properly. I didn’t get enough sleep last night. There’s television lag. These are some of the Johns that [D'ron "D1"] Maingrette says he’s heard over the years.
    • 2020 May, Abbie Rappaport, “"Melee is Broken": Super Smash Bros. Melee: An Interdisciplinary Esports Ethnography”, in spectrum.library.concordia.ca‎, Concordia University, archived from the original on 24 October 2022:
      Some "Johns" have become universal among Smash players. Some prominent "Johns" include: controller issues, not enough sleep, food, or water, a cold venue, or a lack of warmup time.
    • 2024 March 18, ayowitty (@lolwitty1), Twitter‎, archived from the original on 24 October 2024:
      i have a lot of new opinions on the mechanics of the game. I KNOW it sounds like a john but ill probably talk about it later

Derived terms

Remove ads

Cebuano

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from English John, from Middle English Johannes, John, Johan, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, from Latin Iōhannēs (variant of Iōannēs), from New Testament Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdjan/ [ˈd̪jan̪]

Proper noun

John (Badlit spelling ᜇ᜔ᜌᜈ᜔)

  1. a male given name from English [in turn from Hebrew]
Remove ads

Danish

Etymology

A contraction of Johannes, later reinforced by the English John.

Proper noun

John c

  1. a male given name

Derived terms

References

  • Danskernes Navne: 44 136 males with the given name John (compared to 3 492 named Jon) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on March 20th, 2011.

Faroese

Pronunciation

Proper noun

John m

  1. a male given name

Usage notes

Matronymics

  • son of John: Johnsson
  • daughter of John: Johnsdóttir

Declension

More information singular, indefinite ...

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology

Borrowed from English John. Doublet of Jean.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

John m

  1. a male given name and surname in English

Italian

Middle English

Norwegian

Portuguese

Scots

Swedish

Tagalog

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads