جان

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See also: ـجان and خان

Arabic

Etymology 1

Root
ج ن ي (j n y)
7 terms

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 (jāninm (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

Root
ج ن ن (j n n)
6 terms

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 (jānnm 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

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:
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 (giyan), Avestan 𐬬𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬥𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬁 (viiānaiiā), Sanskrit व्यान (vyāná).

Pronunciation

Readings
Classical reading? jān
Dari reading? jān
Iranian reading? jân
Tajik reading? jon

Noun

جان (jân) (plural جان‌ها (jân-hâ))

Dari جان
Iranian Persian
Tajik ҷон
  1. soul; life; life-force
    جان خود را از دست دادنjân-e xod râ az dast dâdanto 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 کلامjân-e kalâmheart of the matter
  4. (mainly in جانم or جان من) someone very close, e.g. a beloved or close family
    جانمjân-ammy 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

  • از جان و دل (az jân o del, most willingly, literally from soul and heart)
  • به جان آمدن (be jân âmadan, to be endangered, literally to come to the soul)
  • جان تسلیم کردن (jân taslim kard, to pass away, literally to surrender the soul)
  • جان دادن (jân dâdan, to pass away; to give life; to be passionate, literally to give the soul)
  • جانان (jânân, the beloved, literally souls; lives)
  • جانباز (jânbâz, disabled war veteran, literally life-gamblers)
  • جاندار (jândâr, animal, literally soul-haver)
  • جانسوز (jân-suz, heartrending, literally soul-burning)
  • جانسپار (jân-separ, devoted, literally soul-entrusting)
  • جان‌آفرین (jân-âfarin, God, literally soul-creator)

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

Noun

جان (jānf (Gurmukhi spelling ਜਾਨ)

  1. life, soul
    Synonyms: زِنْدَگی (zindagī), جِیوَن (jīvan), جِنْدَڑی (jindaṛī), حَیَات, آتْما (ātmā), رُوح (rūḥ)
  2. courage, power
  3. (figuratively) love, beloved
  4. truth, basis (of a matter)
Declension
Declension of جان
dir. sg. جان (jān)
dir. pl. جاناں (jānāṉ)
singular plural
direct جان (jān) جاناں (jānāṉ)
oblique جان (jān) جاناں (jānāṉ)
vocative جانے (jāne) جانو (jāno)
ablative جانوں (jānoṉ) جاناں (jānāṉ)
locative جانی (jānī) جانِیں (jānīṉ)
instrumental جانِیں (jānīṉ) جانے (jāne)

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

Noun

جَاݨ (jāṇf (Gurmukhi spelling ਜਾਣ)

  1. knowledge, understanding
Declension
Declension of جان
dir. sg. جَاݨ (jāṇ)
dir. pl. جَاݨاں (jāṇāṉ)
singular plural
direct جَاݨ (jāṇ) جَاݨاں (jāṇāṉ)
oblique جَاݨ (jāṇ) جَاݨاں (jāṇāṉ)
vocative جَاݨے (jāṇe) جَاݨو (jāṇo)
ablative جَاݨوں (jāṇoṉ) جَاݨاں (jāṇāṉ)
locative جَاݨی (jāṇī) جَاݨِیں (jāṇīṉ)
instrumental جَاݨِیں (jāṇīṉ) جَاݨے (jāṇe)

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

Torwali

Etymology

From Sanskrit जन्तु (jantú).

Pronunciation

Noun

جان (ǰan)

  1. snake

Further reading

  • Torwali, Zubair (2019) “جان”, in Torwali Dictionary (Webonary) (in Torwali), Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2020.

Urdu

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian جان (jān).

Pronunciation

Noun

جان (jānf (Hindi spelling जान)

  1. life, soul
    Synonyms: زِنْدَگِی (zindagī), حَیات (hayāt), جِیوَن (jīvan)
  2. spirit, vitality

Declension

    Declension of جان
singular plural
direct جان (jān) جانیں (jānẽ)
oblique جان (jān) جانوں (jānõ)
vocative جان (jān) جانو (jāno)

Derived terms

Uyghur

Etymology

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

Noun

جان (jan)

  1. soul
  2. spirit
  3. life
    جېنىمjénimmy dear
  4. person
  5. dear
    جان ئاناjan anamy dear mother