English
jordan
Jordan comes from Middle English jordan ‘pot’, and goes back to Latin jurdanus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEjurdanus
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500jordan‘pot’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1597same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEjurdanus
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500jordan‘pot’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1597same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “2.Car. Why, you will allow vs ne're a Iourden,…”
The story
From Middle English jordan, from Latin jurdanus, unattested outside of England and of uncertain etymology.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. 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, 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.
Every English word from Latin jurdanus
Today it means
noun A vessel resembling a retort bulb or Florence flask with a truncated neck and flared mouth, used by medieval doctors and alchemists.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin jurdanus / jordan