Joan

[john]

noun

Fair Maid of Kent, 1328–85, wife of Edward, the Black Prince, and mother of Richard II.

a fictitious female pope about a.d. 855–858.

a female given name.

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

Examples from the Web for joan

Contemporary Examples of joan

Estee Lauder has not crumbled to dust because the perfect brown face of Joan Smalls represents it.
One Vogue Cover Doesn’t Solve Fashion’s Big Race Problem
Danielle Belton
January 2, 2015
Someone recently sent me an old Joan Didion essay on self-respect that appeared in Vogue.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination
Mindy Farabee
December 26, 2014
We see photographs of him with his arm around Joan Jett, two punks mugging for the camera.
‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk Paintings
Melissa Leon
December 15, 2014
One understood why Joan Fontaine stayed with him no matter what.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
I first read Joan Didion in my early 20s, and that totally changed everything.
Meghan Daum On Tackling The Unspeakable Parts Of Life
David Yaffe
December 6, 2014

Historical Examples of joan

"But this must succeed, whatever may have happened to the others," cried Joan.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
Joan and Marguerite see a good deal of each other, you know.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
"Oh, but this is not the Haberdashers' Assistants," laughed Joan.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
Neither knew what the other thought of Joan Ferriby, or if he thought of her at all.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
"I was at school with Joan," replied Miss Roden, with her soft laugh.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman

British Dictionary definitions for joan

Joan

noun

known as the Fair Maid of Kent. 1328–85, wife of Edward the Black Prince; mother of Richard II

Pope legendary female pope, first mentioned in the 13th century: said to have been elected while disguised as a man and to have died in childbirth

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 joan

Joan

fem. proper name, originally Joanna, fem. of Johannes (see John). Often 17c.-18c. used as a generic name for a female rustic. Among U.S. births, a top 10 name for girls born between 1930 and 1937.