جان

Arabic

Etymology 1

Derived from the active participle of جَنَى (janā, “to gather, to harvest; to commit a crime”).

Adjective

جَانٍ • (jānin) (informal جَانِي (jānī), feminine جَانِيَة (jāniya), masculine plural جُنَاة (junāh) or جَانُونَ (jānūna), feminine plural جَانِيَات (jāniyāt))

1. guilty, delinquent, criminal, flagrant, vicious, evil

Declension

Noun

جَانٍ • (jānin) m (construct state جَانِي (jānī), plural جَانُونَ (jānūna) or جُنَاة (junāh), feminine جَانِيَة (jāniya))

1. gatherer, harvester, harvestman, reaper
2. perpetrator, offender, delinquent, criminal, culprit, felon, evildoer

Declension

Etymology 2

Has the form derived from the active participle, as if from جَنَّ (janna, “to hide”) (in the passive جُنَّ (junna, “to go crazy”)).

Noun

جَانّ • (jānn) m or f (collective, singulative جِنِّيّ m (jinniyy) or جِنِّيَة f (jinniya), plural جِنَّان (jinnān) or جَوَانّ (jawānn) or جِنّ (jinn) or جِنَّة (jinna))

1. snake, serpent
2. (proper noun, Islam) Jann, the forefather of the race of jinn
   • 1445-1505, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, Al-Dur al-Manthur, page Surah 2:30:

     وقد كان فيها قبل أن يخلق بألفي عام الجن بنو الجان، ففسدوا في الأرض.

     Two thousand years before He created the jinn, the sons of al-Jann, on earth, and they spread corruption and shed blood therein.

3. (in the singular, common noun, rare or Classical Arabic) one of the jinn; a genie, a jann.
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 55:74:

     لَمْ يَطْمِثْهُنَّ إِنْسٌ قَبْلَهُمْ وَلَا جَانٌّ

     lam yaṭmiṯhunna ʔinsun qablahum walā jānnun

     touched them has not mankind before them nor a jinni.

4. a serpentine or draconic class of the jinn
5. (in the plural) any supernatural being in general, especially elves and fairies.

Declension

Related terms

• جِنّ (jinn, “jinn”)
• نَسْنَاس (nasnās, “nasnas”)
• غُول (ḡūl, “ghoul”)

Azerbaijani

Noun

جان (can) (definite accusative جانێ (canı), plural جانلار (canlar))

1. Arabic spelling of can (“life, soul”)

Declension

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian جان (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”).

Noun

جان • (can)

1. soul
2. being
3. life
4. heart
5. darling

Descendants

• Turkish: can
• Albanian: xhan
• Macedonian: џан (džan)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: џан

  Latin script: džan

Suffix

جان • (can)

1. Suffix expressing intimacy, roughly equivalent to dear or darling, attached to a name or title

Persian

Persian Wikipedia has an article on:

جان

Wikipedia ^fa

Alternative forms

• جون (jun) (colloquial Iranian)

Etymology

From Middle Persian (HYA), (yʾn'), 𐫃𐫏𐫀𐫗 (gyʾn /⁠gyān⁠/, “soul, ghost”), from Proto-Iranian *wyaHnáH (equivalent to*wi- + *HanH- (“to breathe”)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *wyaHnás, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”), whence, for example, Latin animus.

Cognate with Northern Kurdish giyan, Central Kurdish گیان (gyan), Avestan 𐬬𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬥𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬁 (viiānaiiā), Sanskrit व्यान (vyāná).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ân

Noun

جان • (jân) (plural جان‌ها (jân-hâ))

1. soul; life; life-force

   جان خود را از دست دادن ― jân-e xod râ az dast dâdan ― to lose one's life, to pass away

   • c. 1580, Vahshī Bāfqī, “گلهٔ یار دل‌آزار”, in گزیده اشعار [Selected Poems]‎:

     جان من سنگدلی ، دل به تو دادن غلط است
     بر سر راه تو چون خاک فتادن غلط است
     چشم امید به روی تو گشادن غلط است
     روی پر گرد به راه تو نهادن غلط است
     رفتن اولاست ز کوی تو ، ستادن غلط است
     جان شیرین به تمنای تو دادن غلط است

     jān-i man-i sangdilī, dil ba tu dādan ğalat ast
     bar sar-i rāh-i tu čūn xāk fitādan ğalat ast
     čašm-i umēd ba rōy-i tu gušādan ğalat ast
     rōy-i pur gird ba rāh-i to nihādan ğalat ast
     raftan awwalā-st zi kōy-i tu, sitādan ğalat ast
     jān-i šīrīn ba tamannā-yi tu dādan ğalat ast

     My stone-hearted love, it's a mistake to give my heart to you;
     It's a mistake to fall down like dust at the head of your path;
     It's a mistake to open my hopeful eyes to your face;
     It's a mistake to lay my dusty face on your path;
     First of all, I leave your street, it's a mistake to stand here;
     It's a mistake to give up my sweet life to desiring you.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

2. energy; strength

   پاهایم جان ندارند. ― pâ-hâ-yam jân na-dârand. ― My legs are tired. (literally, “My legs have no life.”)

3. main point; essence

   جان کلام ― jân-e kalâm ― heart of the matter

4. (mainly in جانم or جان من) someone very close, e.g. a beloved or close family

   جانم ― jân-am ― my love (literally, “my soul”)

   • c. 1580, Vahshī Bāfqī, “گلهٔ یار دل‌آزار”, in گزیده اشعار [Selected Poems]‎:

     جان من سنگدلی ، دل به تو دادن غلط است
     بر سر راه تو چون خاک فتادن غلط است
     چشم امید به روی تو گشادن غلط است
     روی پر گرد به راه تو نهادن غلط است
     رفتن اولاست ز کوی تو ، ستادن غلط است
     جان شیرین به تمنای تو دادن غلط است

     jān-i man-i sangdilī, dil ba tu dādan ğalat ast
     bar sar-i rāh-i tu čūn xāk fitādan ğalat ast
     čašm-i umēd ba rōy-i tu gušādan ğalat ast
     rōy-i pur gird ba rāh-i to nihādan ğalat ast
     raftan awwalā-st zi kōy-i tu, sitādan ğalat ast
     jān-i šīrīn ba tamannā-yi tu dādan ğalat ast

     My stone-hearted love, it's a mistake to give my heart to you;
     It's a mistake to fall down like dust at the head of your path;
     It's a mistake to open my hopeful eyes to your face;
     It's a mistake to lay my dusty face on your path;
     First of all, I leave your street, it's a mistake to stand here;
     It's a mistake to give up my sweet life to desiring you.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Derived terms

Suffix

جان • (jân)

1. Suffix expressing intimacy, roughly equivalent to dear or darling, attached to a name or title.

   مامان جون ― mâmân jun ― dear mom; mommy

   خاله جون ― xâle jun ― dear aunt; auntie

Usage notes

• Older family members are typically called by their relative position plus the suffix جان / جون. For example, an older brother might be called داداش جون (dâdâš jun).

Interjection

جان • (jân)

1. what?; a request for clarification upon mishearing.
2. An exclamation of joy.

Usage notes

• When used for clarification, this is normally pronounced jân and not jun even in colloquial Iranian Persian.

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• Cheung, Johnny (2007) Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 161

Punjabi

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian جَان (jān).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒäːnᵊ/

Noun

جان • (jān) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਜਾਨ)

1. life, soul

   Synonyms: زِنْدَگی (zindagī), جِیوَن (jiyoan), جِنْدَڑی (jindaṛī), حَیَات, آتْما (ātmā), رُوح (rūḥ)

2. courage, power
3. (figuratively) love, beloved
4. truth, basis (of a matter)

Declension

Etymology 2

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀚𑀸𑀡 (jāṇa), from Sanskrit ज्ञान (jñāna).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒäːɳᵊ/

Noun

جَاݨ • (jāṇ) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਜਾਣ)

1. knowledge, understanding

Declension

Verb

جَاݨ • (jāṇ) (Gurmukhi spelling ਜਾਣ)

1. inflection of جَاݨنا (jāṇnā):
   1. stem
   2. second-person singular present imperative

Etymology 3

Verb

جَاݨ • (jāṇ) (Gurmukhi spelling ਜਾਣ)

1. oblique infinitive of جَاݨا (jāṇā, “to go”)

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “جان”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• “جان”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2024
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “jñāna”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 291

Sindhi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian جان (jān).

Noun

جان • (jān) ?

1. life; soul

Urdu

Alternative forms

• جاں (jā̃)

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian جان (jān).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɑːn/
• Rhymes: -ɑːn

Noun

جان • (jān) f (Hindi spelling जान)

1. life, soul
2. spirit, vitality

Declension

Derived terms

Uyghur

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian جان (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”).

Noun

جان • (jan)

1. soul
2. spirit
3. life

   جېنىم ― jénim ― my dear

4. person
5. dear

   جان ئانا ― jan ana ― my dear mother