joan
/d͡ʒoʊn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.01 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Alternative spelling of jone.
name
A female given name from French, a feminine form of John.
name
A male given name from Catalan, a form of John.
noun
A placeholder or conventional name for any woman, particularly a younger lower-class woman.
Archaic; Colloquial; Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "Maybe my mother didn't name me after Joan Crawford after all, I thought; she just told me that to cover up. She named me after Joan of Arc, didn't she know what happened to women like that?"
- "In the Besson and Duguay films, the two Joans (Milla Jovovich and the 16-year-old Leelee Sobieski, respectively) brim with purpose, but one is ever mindful that here we have two fine-looking young women."
- "Joan Goldstein, the Jewish chair of the group’s chapter in North Jersey, has attended Ramadan celebrations throughout the years — although she said she hasn’t been able to do the full fast yet and still drinks water."
- "Ber. O and I forsoth in loue, I that haue been loues whip?... Well, I will loue, write, sigh, pray, shue, grone, Some men must loue my Ladie, and some Ione."
- "Joan’s as good as this French lady."
- "‘Ioan in the darke is as good as my lady:’ Nay, perhapps better, such ladies there may bee."
Etymology
A clipped or hypochoristic form of Joanna, from Latin Joanna, 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. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /d͡ʒoʊn/
- British English: /d͡ʒəʊn/