Jean
WordNet
noun
(1) A coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
(2) (usually plural) close-fitting pants of heavy denim for manual work or casual wear
WiktionaryText
Etymology
A medieval feminine form of John through French Jehane, often considered Scottish.
Proper noun
Quotations
- 1788 Robert Burns, Of A' the Airts the Wind Can Blaw:
- There's not a bonnie flower that springs
- By fountain, shaw , or green,
- There's not a bonnie bird that sings
- But minds me o' my Jean.
- 1866 Louisa May Alcott, Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power, Chapter II
- - - - Isn't Jean a pretty name?"
- "Not bad; but why don't you call her Miss Muir?"
- "She begged me not. She hates it, and loves to be called Jean, alone."
- 1972 Anne Tyler, The Clock Winder, Knopf, 1972, page 67
- He was trying to think of her name; she had come to cook him dinner twice last spring. - - - Jean, maybe. Or Betty. One of these plain names.
----
Proper noun
- John.
- , traditionally very popular in France. Also a common first part of hyphenated given names.
Related terms
- Jean-Baptiste
- Jean-Charles
- Jean-Christophe
- Jean-Claude
- Jean-François
- Jean-Jacques
- Jean-Louis
- Jean-Luc
- Jean-Marc
- Jean-Marie
- Jean-Michel
- Jean-Paul
- Jean-Philippe
- Jean-Pierre
- Jean-Yves
----
Inflection
| Root singular | Root plural | Diminutive singular | Diminutive plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Jean | Jeane | Jeanke | Jeankes |
| Genitive | Jeans | Jeane | Jeankes | Jeankes |
| Locative | Jeanese | Jeaneser | Jeaneske | Jeaneskes |
| Dative¹ | Jeanem | Jeanemer | Jeanemske | Jeanemskes |
| Accusative¹ | Jean | Jeane | Jeanke | Jeankes |
- Dative and accusative are nowadays obsolete, use nominative instead.