joss

Etymology

It is borrowed from Chinese Pidgin English joss,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Javanese dejos,^[2][3][7][5] a word formed in the 16th century^[2] from Portuguese deos (“god”), now deus,^[7][8][5] from Latin deus (“god”).^[2][5][9] Etymonline traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- (“to shine”).^[2][5] Hobson-Jobson describes it as a corruption of Portuguese Deos, first taken into the pidgin of the Chinese ports and then adopted by Europeans as if it were a Chinese word,^[10] and Weekley says the word was taken to China by sailors.^[11] The OED, revised in 2025, prefers a route through Dutch: the word is probably from an unrecorded Dutch form, known only in derivatives such as Dutch joosje, recorded from 1676, and joost, images of a deity or devil;^[12] this may be shortened from a Javanese word for an idol, itself from the Portuguese word; the OED thinks the English j- sound is probably a spelling pronunciation.^[12] The Shorter Oxford also compares the Dutch forms, and Hoad calls the Portuguese origin probable.^[8][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

A statue or image of a god in China, an idol: 1711, in C. Lockyer's account of the trade in India, which also has joss house, a temple.^[12][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Used of Chinese gods and idols, the word was taken up in compounds such as joss house (1711) and joss stick, a stick of incense.^[12][8] The OED dates joss stick to 1823,^[12] Etymonline to 1831,^[2] Merriam-Webster to 1845^[4] and Barnhart to 1883.^[3] In Australia and the United States it was also used as a disparaging term for a Chinese person, from 1891.^[14] Colloquially the word came to mean luck, chiefly in good joss and bad joss, recorded from about 1893.^[12][2]

Timeline

• 1711 – a Chinese idol, and joss house, a temple.^[12][4][3]
• 1823 – joss stick, incense.^[12]
• 1891 – a disparaging term for a Chinese person.^[14]
• c. 1893 – luck, fortune.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Chinese deity or the idol that represents it.^[4][6][12]
2. (informal) Luck, as in good joss or bad joss.^[12]

Word family

• joss stick
• joss house

Related words

• deity

Usage notes

A dialect word joss, a foreman or boss, recorded in Cheshire before 1876 and also used in Australian and New Zealand slang, has a separate source: it is of unknown origin,^{[12][8][4][15]} although the OED suggests it may be a transferred use of the idol word or the northern pet name Joss for Joseph.^[12] Another dialect joss, to crowd or jostle, is probably short for jostle.^[4][15]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Yule, Henry; Burnell, A. C. (1903), Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, new ed. by William Crooke, London: John Murray
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)