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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Jar has two distinct origins. The late Middle English word for a shock or jolt, first used of disagreement or dispute, is probably imitative. The container name appeared in the late 16th century and came through French from Arabic jarra, “earthen water vessel”; its later use for a serving of beer dates from the 1920s.

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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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary