Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • One of the 12 Apostles and the brother of James the Great. He is traditionally considered the author of the fourth Gospel, three epistles, and the book of Revelation.
  • King of England (1199–1216). The youngest son of Henry II, he schemed against his father and his brother Richard I. During his reign, the English lost most of their possessions in France. The nobility rose against John and forced him to sign the Magna Carta (1215).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A male given name very popular since the Middle Ages.
  • proper noun biblical Two persons of great importance to early Christianity: John the Baptist and John the Apostle, identified with John the Evangelist.
  • proper noun biblical The Gospel of St. John, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the fourth of the four gospels.
  • proper noun biblical One of the books in the New Testament of the Bible, the epistles of John (1 John, 2 John and 3 John).
  • proper noun A patronymic surname.
  • proper noun informal Used frequently to form an idea personified John Bull, John Barleycorn (see derivations below).
  • proper noun informal A name used to address a man whose actual name is not known: John Doe.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French Jehan, from Late Latin Ioannes, Iohannes, from Greek Iōannēs, from Hebrew yôḥānān, Yahweh has been gracious : , Yahweh; see hwy in Semitic roots + ḥānan, he has been gracious; see ḥnn in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Iōhannēs (variant of Iōannēs), from New Testament Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōannēs), contraction from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Johanan) Jōħānān, perhaps from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yehochanan) Jəhôħānān, meaning "God is gracious".

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Examples

  • Film 3 - Resolution, john ends up alone before the events of T3 or not who knows, maybe he meets T3 John in the future and its established that while T3 was cannon, its another universe and Judgement day can still be stopped.

    Halcyon Likes Lionsgate Bid For Terminator Franchise Rights | /Film 2010

  • JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, when you talk to the citrus growers and farmers here in the state of Florida, they'll tell you they have not seen cold weather this cold for this prolonged period of time in at least 20 years.

    CNN Transcript Jan 6, 2010 2010

  • (Soundbite of film, "Cyrus") Mr. JOHN C. REILLY (Actor): (As John) Why am I even I can't talk to you.

    'Cyrus': A Loose, Low-Key Kind Of Crazy 2010

  • JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, John, that requires probably a long answer, I'll try to make it short.

    CNN Transcript Jan 10, 2010 2010

  • JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, John.

    CNN Transcript Jun 17, 2009 2009

  • JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, here is the way it shapes out.

    CNN Transcript Jun 5, 2009 2009

  • UPDATE ON JOHN: John is out of ICU and feeling gooood!

    "So Funny" In Bold, with Exclamation Mark 2009

  • It may be that in (21S), which does not mean that it is eager for John to please someone, ˜John™ is grammatically linked but not actually displaced from the coindexed position.

    Logical Form Pietroski, Paul 2009

  • JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, John, you hit the nail on the head in the sense that the Kennedy family says they want to be an Irish wake.

    CNN Transcript Aug 27, 2009 2009

  • JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, pitchman Billy Mays does not appear to have died from a hit on the head.

    CNN Transcript Jun 30, 2009 2009

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