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jinn

American  
[jin] / dʒɪn /
Also jinni

noun

Islamic Mythology.
  • jinns,
    plural
  • jinn
    plural
  1. any of a class of spirits, lower than the angels, capable of appearing in human and animal forms and influencing humankind for either good or evil.


jinn British  
/ dʒɪn /

noun

  1. (often functioning as singular) the plural of jinni

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of jinn

1675–85; plural of Arabic jinnī demon

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

She says the healer told her the depression was caused by a "jinn lover" who had possessed her.

From BBC Aug. 7, 2023

“The jinn was instructing him to behave in that alleged behavior,” the psychiatrist added.

From Seattle Times May 2, 2019

She has a cinematic, out-of-body, approach to songwriting; Eilish imagines herself as a sneaky jinn or a bored wallflower and then writes what she sees.

From The New Yorker Apr. 26, 2019

"There has to be a tipping point. You can't put the jinn back in the bottle. All of us have either kept quiet out of fear or shame or complicity, but now we can't."

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 17, 2017

But the jinn didn’t come, not that time.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

For centuries there have been stories that it harboured jinns, or genies.

From BBC Sep. 22, 2021

He blamed the alleged change on jinns - supernatural creatures which feature in early Islamic mythology.

From BBC Sep. 20, 2021

An eight-week trial heard Metwally, an NHS anaesthetist and chronic pain specialist, believed Ms Wilson was possessed supernatural spirits known as jinns.

From BBC Aug. 6, 2021

While his previous novels were peopled with telepathic children, vengeful jinns, and levitating gardeners, The Golden House is tethered to terra firma.

From Slate Sep. 21, 2017

The following is the story of those figures of monkeys which you see:—Your father from his youth formed a friendship and kept up an intercourse with Maliki Sadik, who is the king of the jinns.

From Bagh O Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes by Forbes, Duncan

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