Jar Meaning
/d͡ʒɑː/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn earthenware container, either with two or no handles, for holding oil, water, wine, etc., or used for burial.
nounA small, approximately cylindrical container, normally made of clay or glass, for holding fruit, preserves, etc., or for ornamental purposes.
Sentence Examples
I wanted some salt, but there was none in the jar.
There are some cookies in the jar.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She stored the fresh homemade strawberry jam in a glass ____ with a tight lid.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She kept all her spare change in a large glass ____ that sat on her desk in the bedroom.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English jarre (“jar”), from Medieval Latin jarra, or from Middle French jarre (“liquid measure”) (from Old French jare; modern French jarre (“earthenware jar”)), or from Spanish jarra, jarro (“jug, pitcher; mug, stein”), all from Arabic جَرَّة (jarra, “earthen receptacle”). The word is cognate with Italian giara (“jar; crock”), Occitan jarro, Portuguese jarra, jarro (“jug; ewer, pitcher”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"As I was going over the far fam'd Kerry mountain / I met with Captain Farrell [a]nd his money he was counting, / I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier, / Sayin', "Stand and deliver for you are my bold deceiver,["] / O, Whack fol the diddle, / O, Whack fol the diddle, / O, There's whiskey in the jar / O, Whack fol the diddle, / O, Whack fol the diddle, / O, There's whiskey in the jar."
— 17th century?, “There’s Whiskey in the Jar”, in Colm O Lochlainn, compiler, Irish Street Ballads: Collected and Annotated […], New York, N.Y.: Corinth Books, published 1960, →OCLC, page 24:
"[A] certain fisherman, after throwing his nets to no purpose, and beginning to be in despair, succeeded in catching a jar of brass. […] But presently there came out of the jar a vapour, and it rose up towards the heavens, and reached along the face of the earth; and after this, the vapour reached its height, and condensed, and became compact, and waved tremulously, and became an Ufreet (evil spirit), […]"
— 1848, Leigh Hunt, “Introduction. A Blue Jar from Sicily, and a Brass Jar from the ‘Arabian Nights;’ and What Came Out of Each.”, in A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 3:
"The first view shows the body in the grave, looking southwards; the stack of offering jars lies outside of a little court for offerings which is seen beyond them. Below this is a nearer view of the grave alone. Here is skeleton is in place, an alabaster bowl lies between the face and the knees, and a slate palette over that. Five jars stand around the body."
— 1914, W[illiam] M[atthew] Flinders Petrie, “The Valley Cemetery”, in Tarkhan II (British School of Archaeology in Egypt and Egyptian Research Account: Nineteenth Year, 1913; XXV), London: School of Archaeology in Egypt, University College, […] and Bernard Quaritch, […], →OCLC, page 2, column 2:
"Lucy Orrinsmith praised the charms of green glazed vases from the Aures mountains and Tunisian coarse clay and terracotta jars."
— 2008, Judith A. Neiswander, “Individuality and Eclectic Internationalism”, in The Cosmopolitan Interior: Liberalism and the British Home 1870–1914, New Haven, Conn.; London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 46:
"The Leyden jar is charged, like the condenser of Œpinus and the fulminating square, by making one of the armatures communicate with the earth and the other with the electric source."
— 1855, “On Physics, or Natural Philosophy. No. LIX. Effects Produced by the Accumulation of both Electricities.”, in [Robert Wallace], editor, The Popular Educator, volume VI, London: John Cassell, […], →OCLC, page 507, column 1:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She stored the fresh homemade strawberry jam in a glass ____ with a tight lid.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She kept all her spare change in a large glass ____ that sat on her desk in the bedroom.