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yon

[yon]Older Use.
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adjective, adverb
  1. yonder.
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pronoun
  1. that or those yonder.
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Origin of yon

before 900; Middle English; Old English geon; akin to Dutch gene, German jener, Old Norse enn, inn the, Gothic jains that
Can be confusedhence hither thence thither whence whither yon (see usage note at whence)yawn yon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for yon

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • What is it yon intend to do, and what do you mean by this body of physicians?

  • Will you stay with him—support him—but for a few moments, while I make to yon light?

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • Do you know an air—I am sure you must know it, "We'll gang nae mair to yon town?"

  • See you yon long-limbed parson on the left—him with the pent-house hat.

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Gien he be in yon hole, Kirsty, I'll gang back and intil't my lee lane.

    Heather and Snow

    George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for yon

yon

yond (jɒnd)

determiner
  1. mainly Scot and Northern English
    1. an archaic or dialect word for that yon man
    2. (as pronoun)yon's a fool
  2. variants of yonder
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Word Origin

Old English geon; related to Old Frisian jen, Old High German jenēr, Old Norse enn, Gothic jains
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 yon

Old English geon (adj.) "that (over there)," from Proto-Germanic *jaino- (cf. Old Frisian jen, Old Norse enn, Old High German ener, Middle Dutch ghens, German jener, Gothic jains "that, you"), from PIE pronomial stem *i- (cf. Sanskrit ena-, third person pronoun, anena "that;" Latin idem "the same," id "it, that one;" Old Church Slavonic onu "he;" Lithuanian ans "he").

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with yon

yon

see hither and thither (yon).

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.