Jan.
a diminutive of the male given name Johannes, from Dutch [in turn from Latin, in turn from Koine Greek, in turn from Biblical Hebrew] or from West Frisian [in turn from Latin, in turn from Koine Greek, in turn from Biblical Hebrew], equivalent to English John
Meaning & usage
a diminutive of the male given name Johannes, from Dutch [in turn from Latin, in turn from Koine Greek, in turn from Biblical Hebrew] or from West Frisian [in turn from Latin, in turn from Koine Greek, in turn from Biblical Hebrew], equivalent to English John
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Dutch Jan (“male given name”) and West Frisian Jan (“male given name”) in the eighteenth century. Both are contracted forms corresponding to Johannes. The name ultimately derives from Latin Iohannes, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “Yahweh is gracious”). Doublet of Jon (“male given name”), the older traditional Norwegian form. Compare Danish Jan, Swedish Jan, German Jan, Polish Jan and Czech Jan (“male given name”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.