Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

jinn

[jin]
noun, plural jinns, (especially collectively) jinn. Islamic Mythology.
  1. any of a class of spirits, lower than the angels, capable of appearing in human and animal forms and influencing humankind for either good or evil.
Show More
Also jin·ni [jin-ee] /ˈdʒɪn i/, jin, djin, djinn, djin·ni.

Origin of jinn

1675–85; plural of Arabic jinnī demon
Can be confusedgin jinn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for jinn

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Imm Hanfa doubted whether the jinn who are Muslims will be rewarded.

  • If you go on drawing every day I am sure you will learn how to make that Jinn obedient.

    Armorel of Lyonesse

    Walter Besant

  • He cursed the name of Hiram, and defied him to appear to him as god or jinn or ghost.

    A King of Tyre

    James M. Ludlow

  • The Jinn are not gods but fairies, and we have heard of fairy funerals.

  • Genius and Jinn, like Fairy and Peri, is a curious coincidence.

    The Fairy Mythology

    Thomas Keightley

British Dictionary definitions for jinn

jinn

noun
  1. (often functioning as singular) the plural of jinni
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for jinn

n.

1680s, djen, from Arabic jinn, collective plural, "demons, spirits, angels." The proper singular is jinni. Cf. genie.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper