Jonah

English

Etymology

From the Hebrew יוֹנָה (yonáh, “dove”). Doublet of Jonas.

Pronunciation

Jonah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Jonah on Wikisource.Wikisource Wiktionary has an Appendix listing books of the Bible

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒoʊnə/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒəʊnə/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊnə

Proper noun

Jonah

1. A male given name from Hebrew.
   • 2010, Maggie O'Farrell, The Hand That First Held Mine, Headline, →ISBN, page 165:

     'It's Jonah,' Ted says.
     Simmy considers this. 'As in the whale?'
     'Yep.'
     'You know,' Simmy says, 'that people are going to say that to him for ever more?'
     'What? The whale thing?'
     'Yes.'
     Ted shrugs again. 'Well. He'll get used to it. All names have got some associations. Anyway, he looks like a Jonah. And I like the name Jonah—'
     'Obviously,' Simmy cuts in, 'since you chose it.'

2. (biblical) A minor prophet who was cast into the sea and swallowed by a great fish.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jonah 1:15:
     :

     So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

3. A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
4. The 10th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

Derived terms

• Jonah fishing
• Jonahism

Related terms

Related terms

• Jonas
• Jonasen
• Jonasohn
• Jonassen
• Jonassohn
• Jonasson

Translations

given name

• Afrikaans: Jona (af)
• Armenian: Հովնան (hy) (Hovnan)
• Assyrian: ܝܘܢܢ (Yonan)
• Asturian: Xonás (ast)
• Basque: Jonas (eu)
• Bengali: ইঊনুস (yūnus)
• Breton: Yona (br) m
• Cebuano: Jonas
• Chinese:

  Eastern Min: 約拿／约拿 (Iók-nā)

• Corsican: Ghjonassu (co)
• Czech: Jonáš (cs)
• Danish: Jonas
• Dutch: Jonas (nl), Jona (nl)
• Estonian: Joonas
• Finnish: Joona (fi), Joonas (fi)
• French: Jonas (fr) m
• Galician: Xonás (gl) m
• German: Jonas (de) m
• Greek: Ιωνάς (el) m (Ionás)

  Ancient: Ἰωνᾶς m (Iōnâs)

• Greenlandic: Juuna (kl)
• Hawaiian: Iona
• Hebrew: יוֹנָה (he) m or f (Yóna, Yoná), ג'ונה m (jóna)
• Hungarian: Jónás (hu)
• Icelandic: Jónas (is) m
• Ido: Ionas (io)
• Italian: Giona (it) m
• Japanese: ヨナ (Yona)
• Kazakh: Жүніс (Jünıs)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Ûnis (ku) m, Yûnis (ku) m

• Latin: Ionas (la) m, Iōnās (la) m
• Latvian: Jonas (lv)
• Limburgish: Jona
• Lithuanian: Jona m
• Maori: Hona (mi)
• Norwegian: Jonas (no)
• Ottoman Turkish: یونس (Yunus)
• Polish: Jonasz (pl) m
• Portuguese: Jonas (pt) m
• Romanian: Iona m
• Russian: Ио́на (ru) m (Ióna)
• Scots: Jonah
• Scottish Gaelic: Ionah (gd) m
• Slovak: Jonáš
• Slovene: Jona (sl) m
• Spanish: Jonás (es)
• Swahili: Yona (sw)
• Swedish: Jona, Jonas (sv)
• Tagalog: Jonas (tl)
• Turkish: Yunus (tr)
• Waray-Waray: Jonas
• Welsh: Jona (cy) m
• West Frisian: Jona
• Zealandic: Jona

prophet

• Afrikaans: Jona (af)
• Arabic: يُونُس (ar) m (yūnus), يُونَان (ar) m (yūnān)
• Armenian:

  Old Armenian: Յովնան (Yovnan)

• Asturian: Xonás (ast)
• Basque: Jonas (eu)
• Bengali: ইঊনুস (yūnus)
• Breton: Yona (br) m
• Catalan: Jonàs
• Cebuano: Jonas
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 約拿／约拿 (joek³ naa⁴)

  Eastern Min: 約拿／约拿 (Iók-nā)

  Mandarin: 約拿／约拿 (Yuēná)

• Corsican: Ghjonassu (co)
• Czech: Jonáš (cs)
• Danish: Jonas
• Dutch: Jonas (nl)
• Estonian: Joona (et)
• Finnish: Joona (fi) m
• French: Jonas (fr) m
• German: Jona
• Greek: Ιωνάς (el) m (Ionás)

  Ancient: Ἰωνᾶς m (Iōnâs)

• Hawaiian: Iona
• Hebrew: יונה (he) m (yoná)
• Hungarian: Jónás (hu)
• Icelandic: Jónas (is) m
• Ido: Ionas (io)
• Irish: Ióna (ga) m
• Italian: Giona (it) m
• Japanese: ヨナ (Yona)
• Kazakh: Жүніс (Jünıs)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Yûnis (ku) m

• Latin: Ionas (la), Iōnās (la) m
• Latvian: Jonas (lv)
• Limburgish: Jona
• Lithuanian: Jona m
• Maore Comorian: Yunusa
• Ngazidja Comorian: Yunusa
• Norwegian: Jonas (no)
• Ottoman Turkish: یونس (Yunus)
• Polish: Jonasz (pl) m
• Portuguese: Jonas (pt)
• Rohingya: Yunus
• Romanian: Iona m
• Russian: Ио́на (ru) m (Ióna)
• Scots: Jonah
• Scottish Gaelic: Ionah (gd) m
• Slovak: Jonáš
• Slovene: Jona (sl) m
• Spanish: Jonás (es)
• Swahili: Yona (sw)
• Swedish: Jonas (sv)
• Tagalog: Jonas (tl)
• Turkish: Yunus (tr)
• Waray-Waray: Jonas m
• Welsh: Jona (cy) m
• West Frisian: Jona
• Zealandic: Jona

Biblical: a book of the Old Testament

• Afrikaans: Jona (af)
• Arabic: يُونَان (ar) m (yūnān)
• Armenian: Հովնան (hy) (Hovnan)
• Asturian: Xonás (ast)
• Basque: Jonas (eu)
• Breton: Yona (br) m
• Catalan: Jonàs
• Cebuano: Jonas
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 約拿書／约拿书 (joek³ naa⁴ syu¹)

  Eastern Min: 約拿書／约拿书 (Iók-nā-cṳ̆)

  Mandarin: 約拿書／约拿书 (zh) (Yuēnáshū)

• Corsican: Ghjonassu (co)
• Czech: Jonáš (cs)
• Danish: Jonas
• Dutch: Jonas (nl), Jona (nl) (archaic)
• Estonian: Joona (et)
• Finnish: Joona (fi)
• French: Jonas (fr)
• German: Buch Jona n (Protestant), Buch Jonas n (Catholic)
• Greek: Ιωνάς (el) m (Ionás)

  Ancient: Ἰωνᾶς m (Iōnâs)

• Hawaiian: Iona
• Hebrew: יונה (he) m (yoná)
• Hungarian: Jónás (hu)
• Icelandic: Jónas (is) m
• Ido: Ionas (io)
• Irish: Leabhar Ióna m, Ióna (ga) m
• Italian: Giona (it)
• Japanese: ヨナ書 (Yona sho)
• Kazakh: Жүніс (Jünıs)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Yûnan (ku) m

• Latin: Iōnās (la) m
• Latvian: Jonas (lv)
• Limburgish: Jona
• Lithuanian: Jonos knyga (lt) f
• Maltese: Ktieb Jona, Ktieb Ġona (mt)
• Maori: Hona (mi)
• Norwegian: Jona, Jonas (no)
• Polish: Księga Jonasza f
• Portuguese: Jonas (pt) m
• Romanian: Iona m
• Russian: Кни́га Ио́ны f (Kníga Ióny)
• Scots: Jonah
• Scottish Gaelic: Ionah (gd) m
• Slovak: Jonáš
• Slovene: Jona (sl) m
• Spanish: Jonás (es) m
• Swahili: Yona (sw)
• Swedish: Jonas bok c
• Tagalog: Jonas (tl)
• Waray-Waray: Jonas
• Welsh: Jona (cy) m
• West Frisian: Jona
• Zealandic: Jona

tenth sūra of the Qurʾān

• Afrikaans: Jona (af)
• Arabic: يُونُس (ar) m (yūnus)
• Basque: Jonas (eu)
• Bengali: ইঊনুস (yūnus)
• Breton: Yona (br) m
• Cebuano: Jonas
• Chinese:

  Eastern Min: 約拿書／约拿书 (Iók-nā-cṳ̆)

• Corsican: Ghjonassu (co)
• Czech: Jonáš (cs)
• Danish: Jonas
• Dutch: Jonas (nl)
• Estonian: Joona (et)
• Finnish: Joona (fi) m
• French: Jonas (fr)
• German: Jonas (de)
• Greek: Ιωνάς (el) m (Ionás)
• Hawaiian: Iona
• Hungarian: Jónás (hu)
• Icelandic: Jónas (is) m
• Ido: Ionas (io)
• Italian: Giona (it)
• Japanese: ヨナ書 (Yona sho)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Yûnis (ku) m

• Latin: Ionas (la)
• Latvian: Jonas (lv)
• Limburgish: Jona
• Lithuanian: Jonos knyga (lt) f
• Norwegian: Jonas (no)
• Polish: Księga Jonasza f
• Portuguese: Jonas (pt)
• Romanian: Iona m
• Scots: Jonah
• Scottish Gaelic: Ionah (gd) m
• Slovak: Jonáš
• Slovene: Jona (sl) m
• Spanish: Jonás (es)
• Swahili: Yona (sw)
• Swedish: Jonas (sv)
• Tagalog: Jonas (tl)
• Uyghur: يۇنۇس (yunus)
• Waray-Waray: Jonas
• Welsh: Jona (cy) m
• West Frisian: Jona
• Zealandic: Jona

Noun

Jonah (plural Jonahs)

1. (nautical, slang) A person who brings a ship bad luck.
   • 2008, Richard Blake, Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775-1815: Blue Lights & Psalm-singers:

     Superstitious sailors regarded a clergyman as an unlucky shipmate, a Jonah whose presence would never be welcome.

2. (slang, by extension) Any person or object which is deemed to cause bad luck; a jinx.
   • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 61:

     ‘My first agent, and he's dead. It's incredible. I feel like a complete Jonah.’

Translations

a person who brings a ship bad luck

a jinx

• Dutch: ongeluksbrenger m, ongeluksbrengster f
• French: porte-malheur (fr) m
• German: Unglücksbringer m, Unglücksbringerin f, Unglücksrabe (de) m, Unglücksräbin f, Pechvogel (de) m, Pechvögelin f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} Ktieb Ġona (mt)
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} Jona (sl)

References

• J. van der Schaar, “Woordenboek van voornamen”, Utrecht, Antwerpen 1964, Aula-boeken 176, Uitgeverij Het Spectrum

Anagrams

• Johan

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Jonah, from Hebrew יוֹנָה (yonáh, “dove”).

Proper noun

Jonah

1. a male given name from Hebrew
2. a female given name from Hebrew