Joan of Arc

American  

[ahrk] / ɑrk /

noun

1. Saint the Maid of Orléans, 1412?–31, French national heroine and martyr who raised the siege of Orléans.

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Joan of Arc British  

noun

1. Saint known as the Maid of Orléans; French name Jeanne d'Arc. ?1412–31, French national heroine, who led the army that relieved Orléans in the Hundred Years' War, enabling Charles VII to be crowned at Reims (1429). After being captured (1430), she was burnt at the stake as a heretic. She was canonized in 1920. Feast day: May 30

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Joan of Arc Cultural  

1. A French military leader of the fifteenth century, a national heroine who at the age of seventeen took up arms to establish the rightful king on the French throne. She claimed to have heard God speak to her in voices. These claims eventually led to her trial for heresy and her execution by burning at the stake. Joan of Arc is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Example Sentences

The 32-year-old is now also co-writing Baz Luhrmann's forthcoming Joan of Arc film, Jehanne d'Arc.

From BBC • May 13, 2026

Within five years a French resurgence would gather momentum, driven by the intervention of a 17-year-old peasant girl known as Joan of Arc.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

“I gave my life to fighting for our basic human right to health information,” says the would-be Joan of Arc.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2025

The Scorsese series, created by Matti Leshem, dramatizes the stories of eight saints, including Joan of Arc, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, Francis of Assisi and Thomas Becket.

From New York Times • Mar. 27, 2024

Joan of Arc could have hidden in her village while battles raged around her, but she didn’t.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly