jean

noun

ˈjēn 

plural jeans

1

: a durable twilled cotton cloth used especially for sportswear and work clothes

2

usually jeans

ˈjēnz 

: pants usually made of denim or jean

… strolling with royal puppy Lupo through Kensington Gardens near the couple's two-bedroom cottage in a pair of jeans and rain boots.

—Alicia Dennis et al.

Millions of people today buy designer jeans for double the price of equally durable generic jeans …

—Jared Diamond

see also blue jeans, mom jeans

Examples of jean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Initially men’s Levi’s jeans and record tapes were the only items for sale. —Anne D'innocenzio, Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2026

Officials said Julius Alford was last seen leaving a residence in the 7600 block of Harmony Oaks Way in the Vineyard neighborhood on foot around noon Sunday, wearing a red hoodie and black jeans. —Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 4 May 2026

As a young woman, my mother rebelled against this laborious femininity, mostly wearing jeans and loose men’s shirts. —Benny Peterson, Vogue, 4 May 2026

The couple raised $63,000 to launch the Gap in 1969 with one small store at 1950 Ocean Avenue in San Francisco, primarily selling Levi’s jeans, vinyl records and cassettes with a particular appeal to the counterculture youth of the day. —David Moin, Footwear News, 4 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

short for jean fustian, from Middle English Gene Genoa, Italy + fustian

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing jean

• jean shorts

Rhymes for jean

• bean
• bein
• bien
• bouin
• chine
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• keen
• lien

Kids Definition

jean

noun

ˈjēn 

1

: a heavy cotton cloth used especially for sportswear and work clothes

2

plural : pants made of jean, denim, or corduroy

Etymology

a shortened form of earlier jean fustian, literally "a fustian (heavy cotton cloth) from Genoa," from Middle English Gene "Genoa, Italy"