jordan
English
Alternative forms
- (obsolete): iurdan, iurdane, iurdone, yordan, iourden, iorden, jurdon, jordon, jourdon, jordain, jurden, jourdan, jorden
Etymology
From Latin jurdanus, unattested outside of England and of uncertain etymology. Usually derived from a clipped form of Jordan bottle, supposedly a bottle of curative water brought back from the River Jordan by Crusaders and pilgrims to the Holy Land,[1] but this seems unsupported in its actual attestations. Its use for chamber pots may derive from the alchemical device having been used to hold urine.[2]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdʒɔːdən/
Noun
jordan (plural jordans)
- (obsolete) A vessel resembling a retort bulb or Florence flask with a truncated neck and flared mouth, used by medieval doctors and alchemists.
- (obsolete) A chamber pot.
- 1387, Chaucer, “v. 9379”, in The Pardoner's Tale:
- 1440, Promptorium Parvulorum, p. 267:
- Iurdone, pyssepotte, iurdanus.
- a. 1598,, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, Act II, Scene i:
-
Synonyms
- (chamber pot): jordan-pot, see also Thesaurus:chamber pot
Derived terms
- jordan-pot
Translations
Alchemical device and chamber pot — See also translations at chamber pot
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References
- Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for jordan in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.) - Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "jordan, n.¹" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1901.
Anagrams
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