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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

jane en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /d͡ʒeɪn/

Etymology

From Old French Jannes (“Genoa”).

Meanings

  1. (obsolete) A silver Genovese coin, first used in England in the 14th century.
    • Certes was but a common Courtisane, / Yet flat refusd to haue a do with mee, / Because I could not giue her many a Iane. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
    • 14th c, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Rime of Sire Thopas, The Canterbury Tales, 1793, A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, Volume 1, page 124, His robe was of chekelatoun, / That coste many a jane.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
janes Number=Plur lexicographic

jane en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /d͡ʒeɪn/

Etymology

Alternative forms.

Meanings

  1. (alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Jane, a woman.
    alt of Jane
  2. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of jean.
    alt of jean
    • Ye miscellaneous, ignoble manufacturing individuals, ye have produced too much! We accuse you of making above two-hundred thousand shirts for the bare backs of mankind. Your trousers too, which you have made, of fustian, of cassimere, of Scotch-plaid, of jane, nankeen and woollen broadcloth, are they not manifold? 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. VII, Over-Production”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker):
  3. A female client of a prostitute.
    • The Swedish system, seemingly, does not target “janes” (female clients of sex workers). 2014 March 4, Justin Ling, “Opposition parties shy away from sex-work debate”, in Xtra:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
janes Number=Plur lexicographic