• Jonah

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -əʊnÉ™

    Origin

    From the Hebrew יוֹנָה (yoná, "dove").

    Full definition of Jonah

    Proper noun

    Jonah

    (plural Jonahs)
    1. .
    2. (biblical) A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
    3. (Quran) The 10th sura (chapter) of the Quran
    4. (nautical, slang) A person who brings a ship bad luck.
    5. (slang, by extension of the nautical sense) Any person or object which is deemed to cause bad luck; a jinx.
      • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 61:‘My first agent, and he's dead. It's incredible. I feel like a complete Jonah.’
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