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• jean
  jean

  noun

  Sometimes jeans a sturdy twilled fabric, usually of cotton.
• Jean
  Jean

  noun

  1921–2019, Grand Duke of Luxembourg 1964–2000.

jean

¹ American  

[jeen, jeyn] / dʒin, dʒeɪn /

noun

1. Sometimes jeans a sturdy twilled fabric, usually of cotton.

2. (used with a plural verb) jeans,

   1. blue jeans.

   2. pants of various fabrics, styled or constructed like blue jeans.

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Jean ² American  

[zhahn, jeen] / ʒɑ̃, dʒin /

noun

1. 1921–2019, Grand Duke of Luxembourg 1964–2000.

2. a male given name, form of John.

3. a female given name.

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Jean ¹ British  

/ ʒɑ̃ /

noun

1. born 1921, full name Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d'Aviano , grand duke of Luxembourg (1964–2000)

2. Michaelle. born 1957, in Haiti. Canadian stateswoman and broadcaster; governor-general from 2005

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jean ² British  

/ dʒiːn /

noun

1. a tough twill-weave cotton fabric used for hard-wearing trousers, overalls, etc See also jeans

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Usage

What does jean mean? The word jean refers to the kind of material used to make jeans, as in blue jeans—a type of pants. Jeans are traditionally made from denim, a kind of cotton fabric. Today, jeans are made from a variety of fabrics and fabric blends, but they’re still called jeans if they resemble denim blue jeans. In this way, the word jean isn’t commonly used as a name of a kind of material until after it’s been made into jeans. Jean is most commonly used as a modifier to describe garments that are made of denim or the kind of fabric that blue jeans are made of, as in jean shorts, jean jacket (also commonly called a denim jacket), and jean shirt. Example: I used to wear a jean jacket with a bunch of patches on it.

Other Word Forms

• jeaned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of jean

1485–95; short for jean fustian, earlier Gene(s) fustian Genoese or Genoa fustian

Example Sentences

The health agency's executive director Dr Jean Kaseya added that "significant population movement" between the affected areas and neighbouring countries also meant regional co-ordination was essential.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

“CNN seeks to be a stethoscope attached to the hypothetical heart of the war, and to present us with its hypothetical pulse,” the French theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote, critiquing the conflict as a media spectacle.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

“Abby Johnson has done an incredible job. Jean Hynes too. And Nancy Zimmerman runs a fixed-income firm called Bracebridge, which has done quite well.”

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

In that last 1994 thriller, Jean Reno was saving Natalie Portman from Gary Oldman.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

I thought Jean, as we called her, was a lot like me and began wondering more often what my biological family was like.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers