jitney

[ jit-nee ]

/ ˈdʒɪt ni /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jitney ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural jit·neys.

a small bus or car following a regular route along which it picks up and discharges passengers, originally charging each passenger five cents.

Older Slang. a nickel; five-cent piece.

verb (used with or without object), jit·neyed, jit·ney·ing.

to carry or ride in a jitney.

RELATED WORDS

carriage, taxi, taxicab, hack, hackney

Nearby words

jipijapa, jird, jirgah, jism, jit, jitney, jitter, jitterbug, jitters, jittery, jiujitsu

Origin of jitney

1900–05, Americanism; of obscure origin; French jeton jetton is a phonetically implausible source

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for jitney

Been dotty about you ever since you took me for a jitney driver and tipped me a quarter.
The Carter Girls' Week-End Camp|Nell Speed
By this time my confidence in the African jitney was somewhat shaken.
An African Adventure|Isaac F. Marcosson
Her face was dirty enough to suit Dee's idea of a jitney driver.
Tripping with the Tucker Twins|Nell Speed
Dum had lettered the jitney sign for her the evening before.
Tripping with the Tucker Twins|Nell Speed

"We'll go up to the house in Bernard Coyle's jitney," said Rosemary, leading the way around to the side platform.
Rosemary|Josephine Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for jitney

jitney

/ (ˈdʒɪtnɪ) /

noun US rare

a small bus that carries passengers for a low price, originally five cents

slang a nickel; five cents

Word Origin for jitney

C20: of unknown origin

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 jitney

jitney

"bus which carries passengers for a fare," 1915, short for jitney bus (1906), American English, from gitney, said to be slang for any small coin, especially "a nickel," because the buses' fare typically was a nickel, the coin name perhaps via New Orleans from French jeton "coin-sized metal disk, slug, counter," from Old French jeter "to calculate," literally "to throw" (see jet (v.)).

"I'll give a nickel for a kiss,"
Said Cholly to a pretty miss.
"Skiddo," she cried, "you stingy cuss,"
"You're looking for a jitney buss."

["Jitney Jingle," 1915]

The origin and signification of the word was much discussed when the buses first appeared. Some reports say the slang word for "nickel" comes from the bus; most say the reverse, but there does not seem to be much record of jitney in a coin sense before the buses came along (a writer in "The Hub," August 1915, claims to have heard and used it as a small boy in San Francisco, and reported hearsay that "It has been in use there since the days of '49." In some sources it is said to be a St. Louis word, but most credit it to the U.S. West, especially California, though others trace it to "southern negroes, especially in Memphis" ["The Pacific," Feb. 7, 1915].