jar

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A glass or clay container with a wide mouth, used for holding food such as jam or pickles.

   She opened a jar of honey for breakfast.

2. 2
   noun

   The amount that a jar holds.

   He ate a whole jar of peanut butter.

3. 3
   verb

   To affect someone in an unpleasant or shocking way.

   The loud noise jarred everyone in the room.

From earlier jar, jur, jarre, jurre, of uncertain origin. Possibly from earlier *char, *chur, *charre, *churre (now spelt chirr, churr (“to make a sound”); compare also nightjar and its variant nightchurr), from Middle English *chirren, *cherren, *churren (“to sound, cry, murmur, complain”), from Old English ċeorian (“to murmur, gripe, complain with just cause”), from Proto-West Germanic *karēn (“to complain”). For the change of ch to j, compare also charm, jarm (“chirping”); achar, ajar (“slightly turned or open”), chaw, jaw, etc. The noun is derived from the verb.

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