jean
jean Lexical Profile
jean Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Hard-wearing casual trousers made of denim or other cotton fabric (usually used in the plural form 'jeans', or in the singular in the retail and fashion industries).
"The store's newest high-waisted jean has become a bestseller this season."
A heavy, durable twilled cotton cloth, similar to denim, used especially for making work clothes and casual garments.
"She wore a classic blue jean jacket over her summer dress."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'jean' with its homophone 'gene' (a unit of heredity). In contemporary English, the singular form 'jean' is used primarily as a mass noun for the textile or as a modifier before another noun (e.g., 'a jean jacket'), whereas the garment itself is referred to in the plural as 'jeans'.
• Rhymes for jean
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English 'Jene', from Old French 'Jannes', the historical name for the Italian port city of Genoa, where the durable twilled cotton fabric was originally manufactured and exported.