jane
/d͡ʒeɪn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.42 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A surname originating as a patronymic derived from a Middle English variant of John.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of jane (“female client of a prostitute”).
noun
Alternative letter-case form of Jane, a woman.
noun
Alternative spelling of jean.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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;' - - -"
- ""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.""
- "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."
- "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."
- "What happened to your regular Jane?"
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.
Origin
- Source language: French