Brother Jonathan
Americannoun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The name “Jonathan” was taken from a caricature called Brother Jonathan, a precursor of Uncle Sam, an unmannered, forthright, patriotic New Englander.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2023
National symbols aren’t something we can formally retire; they’re deep in the culture, and can only fade away, like Brother Jonathan or Columbia, as people’s values change.
From Slate • Jul. 4, 2022
Brother Jonathan may have morphed into Uncle Sam around the time of the Civil War, before fading away.
From Salon • Dec. 11, 2021
He replaced Brother Jonathan, a New Englander, as an American icon in the early 19th century after an article circulated in the May 12, 1830, New York Gazette.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2015
When any important matter was in agitation the general would say, "We must consult Brother Jonathan."
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
