Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

john doe

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.83 in modern English

Syllables
john -doe
IPA
18
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A fictitious name used chiefly in legal documents for an unknown or anonymous, usually male, person.

American usage

noun

Any unknown or anonymous, usually male, person.

American usage

Example Sentences

Etymology

Books that documented and taught the legal profession in England were using the names John Smith, John Doe, Richard Roe, and others as generic placeholder names (for roles, such as plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, etc) by the mid-seventeenth century (perhaps earlier). Compare also Tommy Atkins. Though the rationale behind the choices of Doe and Roe is unknown, there are many suggested folk etymologies. Other fictitious names for a person involved in litigation in medieval English law were "John Noakes" (or "Nokes") and "John-a-Stiles" (or "John Stiles"). The Oxford English Dictionary states that John Doe is "the name given to the fictitious lessee of the plaintiff, in the (now obsolete in the UK) mixed action of ejectment, the fictitious defendant being called Richard Roe".

Usage

Inflected Forms

John Does (plural)

Phrases

average joe Joe Average Joe Bloggs Joe Blow Joe Doakes Joe Public Joe Q. Law Joe Schmoe

Frequently Paired Words

average joe everyman Joe Average Joe Bloggs Joe Blow Joe Doakes Joe Public Joe Q. Law

Synonyms

John Smith Richard Roe joe blow joe bloggs man in the street

Questions

What does john doe mean?
A fictitious name used chiefly in legal documents for an unknown or anonymous, usually male, person.
Where does john doe come from?
Books that documented and taught the legal profession in England were using the names John Smith, John Doe, Richard Roe, and others as generic placeholder names (for roles, such as plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, etc) by the mid-seventeenth century (perhaps earlier). Compare also Tommy Atkins. Though the rationale behind the choices of Doe and Roe is unknown, there are many suggested folk etymologies. Other fictitious names for a person involved in litigation in medieval English law were "John Noakes" (or "Nokes") and "John-a-Stiles" (or "John Stiles"). The Oxford English Dictionary states that John Doe is "the name given to the fictitious lessee of the plaintiff, in the (now obsolete in the UK) mixed action of ejectment, the fictitious defendant being called Richard Roe".

How to pronounce john doe

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