john English · revision 3630

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1735 (OED, a lavatory)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dʒɒn/, US /dʒɑːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from the man's name [[John]],^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004)^(MWU 2024) which is [[inh|enm|Jon]] (also [[m|enm|Johan]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|Jehan]],^(AHD 2000)^(Etymonline) from [[la-lat|Iōannēs]], Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|Iōhannēs]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|Ἰωάννης|tr=Iōánnēs]],^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) from a Hebrew name, “Yôḥānān”, explained as “God has been gracious”.^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002) The ''h'' in the English spelling copies the Medieval Latin form.^(Etymonline) Because the name was so common, it came to be used for any man, and in turn for the lavatory, a prostitute's client and other things.^(Etymonline)^(Dalzell 2013) Etymonline thinks the sense “toilet” probably came by way of the older [[jakes]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A lavatory: the OED's first example is from 1735,^(OED 1989) but Etymonline dates the word to 1932.^(Etymonline) As a generic name for a man, especially a servant, ''John'' is late Middle English,^(SOED 2002) and in Middle English it was used especially of priests.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the early 14th century ''John'' rivalled ''William'' as the commonest English name, and it was used as a generic name, as in ''John Bull'',^(Etymonline) the Englishman in John Arbuthnot's satire of 1712.^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) ''John Chinaman'' is recorded from 1818.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A policeman was a ''John Darm'' in 1823, a jocular rendering of French ''gendarme'',^(Etymonline) which Green finds in 1830;^(GDoS) ''john'' for a policeman is from 1898, chiefly in Australia,^(HTOED) or by 1901.^(Etymonline) In American underworld slang a ''john'' was an easy victim from 1908,^(GDoS) and the client of a prostitute from 1906,^(Dalzell 2013) or about 1911.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) New Partridge derives this sense from the generic man by way of the criminal “dupe”.^(Dalzell 2013) British rhyming slang made ''john'', from ''John Bull'', mean “pull”, an arrest, by 1962.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late Middle English – ''John'', a generic man or servant.^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1712 – ''John Bull'' (Arbuthnot).^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1735 – a lavatory.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1818 – ''John Chinaman''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1823 – ''John Darm'', a gendarme.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1898 – a policeman.^(HTOED)

+ * 1906 – a prostitute's client.^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1908 – a victim, a sucker.^(GDoS)

+ * 1932 – a toilet, according to Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(slang, chiefly US)'' A [[toilet]] or [[lavatory]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(slang)'' A man who is a [[prostitute|alt=prostitute's]] customer.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(slang, chiefly Australian)'' A [[police]] officer.^(HTOED)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[johnny house]]

+ * [[long johns]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[John]]

+ * [[jakes]]

+ * [[johnny]]

+ * [[Jack]]

+ * [[gendarme]]

+ * [[John Bull]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}