Dictionary

Joan en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /d͡ʒoʊn/ (General-American)
• /d͡ʒəʊn/ (Received-Pronunciation)

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.

Meanings

1. (archaic, colloquial, obsolete) A placeholder or conventional name for any woman, particularly a younger lower-class woman.
   • ...when Henslowe notes Heywood's next play he has a little more respect for him; for, although the total was again but five pounds, three pounds on February 10, 1598/9 and the rest two days later, the dramatist on both occasions is Mr. Heywood. The only surviving fragment of the piece, ‘Jonne as good as my ladey’, may be a song in Γυναικεῖον with the burden 'What care I how faire she bee... 1931, Arthur Melville Clark, Thomas Heywood, page 12:
   • ‘Ioan in the darke is as good as my lady:’ Nay, perhapps better, such ladies there may bee. 1611, John Davies, "Vpon Englishe Prouerbs", Scourge of Folly, §386
   • 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. 1598, William Shakespeare, Loues Labors Lost, 1st Quarto, Act III, Scene i
   • Bast. A foot of Honor better then I was, But many a many foot of Land the worse. Well, now can I make any Ioane a Lady, Good den Sir Richard, Godamercy fellow, And if his name be George, Ile call him Peter; For new made honor doth forget mens names... 1623, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn, act I, scene i:
   • A wife. But what wife and when? Pretty, yes, but godly and modest. He remembers something Taffy said once: ‘A homely Joan is as good as a lady when the lights are out.’ Aye, Taf, he thinks, but best to marry one whose face you can worship. An image of Lucy Tompkins pops unbidden into his mind. 2014, Antonia Senior, Treason's Daughter, page 169:
   • Joan’s as good as this French lady. 1606, Thomas Heywood, If You Knouu Not Me, You Know No Bodie:
2. (archaic, obsolete) A kind of close-fitting cap for women popular in the mid-18th century.
   • A grocer's wife attractd our eyes by a new-fashioned cap called a Joan. 1756, Connoisseur, number 134, page 810:

Forms

Coordinates

John · Jack

Deriveds

Joan's as good as my lady in the dark

Synonyms

Jill · Jane

Joan en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /d͡ʒoʊn/ (General-American)
• /d͡ʒəʊn/ (Received-Pronunciation)

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.

Meanings

1. A female given name from French, a feminine form of John.
   • 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. 1999 October 24, Peter M. Nichols, “Film: In a Joan of Arc Season, One Telling Is Timeless”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:
   • 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? 1979, Margaret Atwood, Lady Oracle, page 336:
   • 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. 2023 November 22, Brammhi Balarajan, “US interfaith communities draw on decades-long bonds to navigate Israel-Hamas War”, in CNN, Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2023:
2. A male given name from Catalan, a form of John.

Forms

Deriveds

Joan the wad · Joany · country Joan · Joanie · Joan Croft