J

From a modification of the Latin letter I (“i”), from the Etruscan letter 𐌉 (i, “i”), from the Ancient Greek letter Ι (I, “iota”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤉 (y, “yod”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓂝.

J (lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  j  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter J):  Ĵĵ  Ɉɉ  J̌ǰ  ȷ  ϳ  ʝ  ɟ  ʄ  ᴊ  Ｊｊ  IJij  IJij  LJLjlj  LJLjlj  NJNjnj  NJNjnj

J

2. joule (the unit of work or energy in the International System of Units)

   Near-synonym: W·s

4. jack (playing card)

   Coordinate terms: K, Q

5. (linguistics) a wildcard for a palatal consonant

   Synonym: Ɉ

6. (mathematics) matrix of ones

   J₂ (2x2 matrix of all ones)

7. (Voice Quality Symbols) position of the jaw (modified for protruded, offset, etc.)
9. (clothing) a bra cup size

J (upper case Roman numeral, lower case j)

1. archaic form of I (“1”), used at the end of a number

   VIIJ ― 8

• Letter styles
• Uppercase and lowercase versions of J, in normal and italic type
• Uppercase and lowercase J in Fraktur

Character=J0

Other representations of J:

• J., j., j

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒeɪ/, (Indic) /d͡ʒeː/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

J (upper case, lower case j, plural Js or J's)

1. The tenth letter of the English alphabet, called jay and written in the Latin script.

• In some names beginning with "J" of northern or eastern European origin, "J" is pronounced as a "Y", for example in the former country of Jugoslavia, which in English more recently is more commonly spelled as Yugoslavia.
• In Spanish names and loanwords beginning with "J", the "J" is usually pronounced as an "H", for example in the name Julio.

• (Latin script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, j, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

J (plural Js or J's or JJ)

1. (slang) (plural Js or J's) A marijuana cigarette (abbreviation of joint).
   • 1980 July, Paul Simon, “Late in the Evening”, in One-Trick Pony:

     I stepped outside to smoke myself a J.

   • 1998, Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski (motion picture), spoken by The Dude (Jeff Bridges):

     Mind if I do a J?

   • 2023, “Modern Day Ripoff”, in Every Loser, performed by Iggy Pop:

     I ran out of blow a long time ago / I can't smoke a J or my guts fly away

2. In the name of a serial publication: abbreviation of Journal.
   • 1969, The Law Commission, Family Law: Report on Financial Provision in Matrimonial Proceedings (Law Com. No. 25)‎^[1], London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, →OCLC, paragraph 29, note 57:

     "Custody or upbringing" is regarded as including access; yet in B. v. B. & F. above no regard was paid to the welfare of the infants which was irrelevant to the particular issue with which the court was concerned—namely whether children were "children of the family". But the effect was to deprive the husband of access and it seems clear that whether or not he was the father, access could have been awarded to him in an application other than under s. 34 of the 1965 Act if the welfare of the children so demanded: [1969] Cam. L.J. [Cambridge Law Journal] 37 […]

3. (law, postnominal) (plural JJ) Abbreviation of judge or justice.
   • 1992 June 3, Chief Justice Anthony Mason, Justice Michael McHugh, “Mabo v Queensland (No 2)”, in Australasian Legal Information Institute‎^[2], High Court of Australia:

     In the result, six members of the Court (Dawson J. dissenting) are in agreement that the common law of this country recognizes a form of native title which, in the cases where it has not been extinguished, reflects the entitlement of the indigenous inhabitants, in accordance with their laws or customs, to their traditional lands and that, subject to the effect of some particular Crown leases, the land entitlement of the Murray Islanders in accordance with their laws or customs is preserved, as native title, under the law of Queensland. The main difference between those members of the Court who constitute the majority is that, subject to the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), neither of us nor Brennan J. agrees with the conclusion to be drawn from the judgments of Deane, Toohey and Gaudron JJ. that, at least in the absence of clear and unambiguous statutory provision to the contrary, extinguishment of native title by the Crown by inconsistent grant is wrongful and gives rise to a claim for compensatory damages.

4. (British, road transport) Abbreviation of junction.

   The Highways Agency plan to close J10 of the M5 to refurbish the motorway bridge.

5. (card games) Abbreviation of jack.
6. (basketball) Abbreviation of jump shot.
   • 2017 February 18, Mike Gantner, “Durant a big admirer of DeRozan and his work ethic”, in Toronto Sun‎^[3]:

     And Durant had a front seat for just how much work DeRozan was putting in during their time together in Rio. "I watched him man," Durant said. "His footwork in the post is flawless. His jump shot in the mid-range is incredible. That is the type of stuff I look at as a basketball guy, his footwork, his mechanics on his J, his handle. At first he was a dunker and he barely dunks now. He’s a finesse player but he can play power forward. I’m a big fan."

7. (slang, chiefly in the plural) (plural Js or J's) an Air Jordan shoe
   • 2022 December 21, Ghetto Smosh, 1:57 from the start, in MY J’S CAN TALK!?!?‎^[4], via YouTube, archived from the original on 5 June 2023:

     Don't pay no mind, Antwon, it's just an angry-ass J...

• CJ (law)
• JA (law)

• “Judges and Officials”, in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 19th edition, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Law Review Association, 2010, →ISBN, Table T11, page 443.

J

1. (religion) Abbreviation of Jehovist.

J

1. Tatami mat, used as a unit of floorspace area (Kyoto tatami are 0.955 by 1.91 m, Nagoya 0.91 by 1.82 m, Tokyo 0.88 by 1.76 m). (From 畳 (-jō).)

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /jɛ/

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

J (plural J's, diminutive J'tjie)

1. J

J

1. The nineteenth letter of the Angami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) Ü ü, Üi üi, A a, Ai ai, I i, Ie ie, U u, Uo uo, E e, Ei ei, O o, Ou ou, K k, Kh kh, G g, Ng ng, C c, Ch ch, J j, Jh jh, Ny ny, T t, Th th, D d, N n, Ts ts, Tsh tsh, Dz dz, P p, Ph ph, B b, M m, Pf pf, Bv bv, Y y, Yh yh, R r, Rh rh, L l, Lh lh, F f, V v, W w, Wh wh, S s, Sh sh, Z z, Zh zh, H h

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃ/

J (lowercase j)

1. A letter of the Araki alphabet.

J upper case (lower case j)

1. The fifteenth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) hərf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

• IPA^(key): (Southern) /xota/, [xo̞.t̪a]
• IPA^(key): (Northern) /jota/, [jo̞.t̪a]

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Basque alphabet, called jota and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, (Ç ç), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L, l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒɔ.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒo.ta]

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Catalan alphabet, called jota and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) lletres; A a (À à), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ï ï), J j, K k, L l (L·L l·l), M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• /j/, /ɣ/ are from West Germanic stem-initial *j; from stem-internal *g; from stem-initial *g in Ripuarian and northernmost Moselle Franconian.

• /j/, [j], (Moselle Franconian also) [ʑ]

J

1. A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
2. A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

• After back vowels, /ɣ/ (see G) is used instead of /j/ with few exceptions. The difference between these is thus widely allophonic.

• IPA^(key): /h/, /j/

J (lower case j)

1. A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.

Initialism of jer (“penis”).

J

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, euphemistic) penis (Classifier: 條／条 c)
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang) person

   廢J／废J [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  fai³ zei¹ [Jyutping]  ―  useless person; loser

J (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang)

1. to masturbate; to have sexual fantasy towards another individual
2. (in general) to fantasize; to fantasize about something for the feel-good feeling

• JJ

From the letter J of the English pattern playing cards. Various names exist for this symbol in the spoken language.

Mandarin gōu

From 鉤 / 钩 (gōu, “hook”), because the letter J resembles a hook.

Cantonese zik¹

Borrowed from English jack.

J

1. (card games) jack (Classifier: 隻／只; 張／张)

J

1. (Mandarin, slang) alternative form of 這 / 这

J

1. The tenth letter of the Latin alphabet.

J

1. The tenth letter used in Pinyin.

• 《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
• The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).

• Bauer, Robert S. (2021) ABC Cantonese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page 1058

• IPA^(key): /t͜ʃ/

J (lower case j)

1. A letter of the Chipewyan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /jeː/

• Audio:

  (file)

J (capital, lowercase j)

1. the tenth letter of the Dutch alphabet

• Previous letter: I
• Next letter: K

• (phoneme): in a syllable onset, IPA^(key): /j/; in a coda, IPA^(key): /i̯/

• Audio:

  (file)

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The thirteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called jo or je and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) litero; Aa, Bb, Cc, Ĉĉ, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ĝĝ, Hh, Ĥĥ, Ii, j, Ĵĵ, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Ŝŝ, Tt, Uu, Ŭŭ, Vv, Zz

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called jott and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) täht; A a, B b (C c), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p (Q q), R r, S s, Š š, Z z, Ž ž, T t, U u, V v (W w), Õ õ, Ä ä, Ö ö, Ü ü (X x, Y y)

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and J for information on the development of the glyph itself.

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called jii and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) kirjain; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s (Š š), T t, U u, V v (W w), X x, Y y, Z z (Ž ž), Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

• IPA^(key): /ʒi/

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• IPA^(key): /jɔt/

• Audio:

  (file)

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the German alphabet, called Jot and written in the Latin script.

J

1. (chemistry) The chemical symbol of iodine.
2. (card games) A jack, also called Junge.

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈj]
• (letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈjeː]

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The seventeenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called jé and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) betű; A a, Á á, B b, C c, Cs cs, D d, Dz dz, Dzs dzs, E e, É é, F f, G g, Gy gy, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, Ly ly, M m, N n, Ny ny, O o, Ó ó, Ö ö, Ő ő, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Sz sz, T t, Ty ty, U u, Ú ú, Ü ü, Ű ű, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z, Zs zs

• j in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

J (lower case j)

1. The thirteenth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) bókstafur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, É é, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Þ þ, Æ æ, Ö ö

• IPA^(key): /ʒ/

J (lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L, l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒe/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, j, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /i‿lˈlun.ɡa/, /i‿lˈlun.ɡo/, /ˈd͡ʒɛj/, /ˈd͡ʒej/, /ˈjɔd/^[1]
  • Rhymes: -ɛj, -ej, -ɔd
• (phonemic realization) IPA^(key): /j/, /ʒ/, /d͡ʒ/ (varies according to the source language of the borrowed term)

J f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case j)

1. the tenth letter of the Latin alphabet, called i lunga in Italian

• The letter J is not considered part of the contemporary Italian alphabet. It is found in loanwords, including Latinisms, where it is a variant of the letter I.
• Until the early 20th century, however, it was common (though surely not obligatory) to replace I with J when it had the sound /j/ and was both preceded and followed by a vowel; thus cuoiaio was also written cuojajo.

• (Latin-script letters) lettera; A a (À à), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Î î, J j, K k), L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v (W w, X x, Y y), Z z
• Italian alphabet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Borrowed from Tagalog J. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English J.

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈdjej/ [ˈd͡ʒei̯]
  • Rhymes: -ej
• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/ [d͡ʒ]

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The tenth letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called dyey and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, Ng ng, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016) Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎^[5] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and J for development of the glyph itself.

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The fourteenth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, àã, B b, C c, D d, E e, É é, Ë ë, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, O o, Ò ò, Ó ó, Ô ô, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ù ù, W w, Y y, Z z, Ż ż

In Latin, the letter J is a modern typographical convention for the consonant form of I. The letter I in ancient times represented either a vowel or a consonant, see I for more information.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /i̯/, [i̯]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /j/, [j]

J

1. A letter of the Latin alphabet.

• "J", in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

• IPA^(key): [j]

• Audio:

  (file)

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The fifteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called jē and written in the Latin script.

• Letters of the Latvian alphabet:

  burti: Aa, Āā, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Ģģ, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ķķ, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒe]
• (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒ]
• (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃ]

J

1. The tenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, j, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

J (upper case, lower case j)

1. The fourteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) ittra; A a, B b, Ċ ċ, D d, E e, F f, Ġ ġ, G g, Għ għ, H h, Ħ ħ, I i, Ie ie, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Ż ż, Z z

J (lower case j)

1. A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a (Á á, Ą ą, Ą́ ą́), B b, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, D d, Dl dl, Dz dz, E e (É é, Ę ę, Ę́ ę́), G g, Gh gh, H h, Hw hw, X x, I i (Í í, Į į, Į́ į́), J j, K k, Kʼ kʼ, Kw kw, ʼ, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n (Ń ń), O o (Ó ó, Ǫ ǫ, Ǫ́ ǫ́), S s, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Tł tł, Tłʼ tłʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh