jordan

See also: Jordan, jordán, Jordán, and Jórdan

English

Alternative forms

(obsolete): iurdan, iurdane, iurdone, yordan, iourden, iorden, jurdon, jordon, jourdon, jordain, jurden, jourdan, jorden

Etymology

From Latin jurdanus, unattested outside of England and of uncertain etymology. Usually derived from a clipped form of Jordan bottle, supposedly a bottle of curative water brought back from the River Jordan by Crusaders and pilgrims to the Holy Land,[1] but this seems unsupported in its actual attestations. Its use for chamber pots may derive from the alchemical device having been used to hold urine.[2]

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɔɹdn̩/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɔːdn̩/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)dən
Hyphenation: jor‧dan

Noun

jordan (plural jordans)

(obsolete) A vessel resembling a retort bulb or Florence flask with a truncated neck and flared mouth, used by medieval doctors and alchemists.
- 15th c., Sloane MS. 73, p. 133:
  Make a good lute... and þerwiþ daub þi Iordan al aboute... and putte al þi mater in þe Iordan and hange it ouer þe fier by þe necke þ^t þe glas be almoost an hond brede fro þe coolis.
(obsolete) A chamber pot.
- 1387, Chaucer, “v. 9379”, in The Pardoner's Tale‎:
  And eek thyne urynals and thy jurdones,
  Thyn ypocras, and eek thy galiones
- 1440, Promptorium Parvulorum, p. 267:
  Iurdone, pyssepotte, iurdanus.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:
  2.Car. Why, you will allow vs ne're a Iourden, and then we leake in your Chimney: and your Chamber-lye breeds Fleas like a Loach.

Synonyms

(chamber pot): jordan-pot, see also Thesaurus:chamber pot

Derived terms

jordan-pot

Translations

Alchemical device and chamber pot — See also translations at chamber pot

Latin: jurdanus

References

jordan in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "jordan, n.¹" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1901.

Anagrams

Jardon

[1] rdan in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

[2] Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "jordan, n.¹" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1901.