joint
English
Etymology
The noun is from Middle English joynt (attested since the late 13th century), from Old French joint (“joint of the body”) (attested since the 12th century). The adjective (attested since the 15th century) is from Old French jointiz. Both Old French words are from Latin iūnctus, the past participle of iungō. See also join, jugular.
The meaning of "building, establishment", especially in connection with shady activities, appeared in Anglo-Irish by 1821 and entered general American English slang by 1877, especially in the sense of "opium den". The sense "marijuana cigarette" is attested since 1935.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d͡ʒɔɪnt/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔɪnt
Adjective
joint (not comparable)
- Done by two or more people or organisations working together.
- The play was a joint production between the two companies.
- c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- A joint burden laid upon us all.
Synonyms
- see also Thesaurus:joint
Derived terms
Translations
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Noun

joint (plural joints)
- The point where two components of a structure join, but are still able to rotate.
- The point where two components of a structure join rigidly.
- The water is leaking out of the joint between the two pipes.
- (anatomy) Any part of the body where two bones join, in most cases allowing that part of the body to be bent or straightened.
- The means of securing together the meeting surfaces of components of a structure.
- The dovetail joint, while more difficult to make, is also quite strong.
- A cut of meat, especially (but not necessarily) (a) one containing a joint in the sense of an articulation or (b) one rolled up and tied.
- Set the joint in a roasting tin and roast for the calculated cooking time.
- The part or space included between two joints, knots, nodes, or articulations.
- a joint of cane or of a grass stem; a joint of the leg
- (geology) A fracture in which the strata are not offset; a geologic joint.
- (chiefly US slang, may be somewhat derogatory) A place of business, particularly in the food service or hospitality industries.
- It was the kind of joint you wouldn't want your boss to see you in.
- 1996, Deirdre Purcell, Roses After Rain, p. 335:
- "...Where's the ladies' in this joint? I've to powder me nose."
- 2021 August 18, Cobaj, Lee, “Best things to do in Hong Kong”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-10-25:
- Sham Shui Po might be one of Hong Kong’s poorest neighbourhoods but it has a rich immigrant history and a glut of fantastic street-food joints.
- (slang, with the definite article) Prison.
- I'm just trying to stay out of the joint.
- (slang) A marijuana cigarette.
- After locking the door and closing the shades, they lit the joint.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana cigarette
- (slang, dated) A syringe used to inject an illicit drug.
- 1954, Listen (volumes 7-10, page 131)
- Captain Jack McMahon, chief of Houston's police narcotics division, holds tools of the “junkie” trade, including “joints” (syringes), needles, heroin, milk sugar (used to cut pure heroin), spoons for heating a shot of heroin (mixed with water), […]
- 1954, Listen (volumes 7-10, page 131)
- (US, slang) The penis.[1]
- 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 4:
- Inez called up Camille on the phone repeatedly and had long talks with her; they even talked about his joint, or so Dean claimed.
- 1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint, New York: Vintage, 1994, “Cunt Crazy,” p. 158,
- There I was, going down at last on the star of all those pornographic films that I had been producing in my head since I first laid a hand upon my own joint . . .
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis
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- (originally an idiolectic sense) A thing.
- Compare: jawn
Derived terms
- acromioclavicular joint
- ball and socket joint
- ball-and-socket joint
- blow this joint
- box joint
- butt joint
- cable joint
- carpet joint
- case the joint
- clipjoint, clip-joint, clip joint
- comb joint
- control joint
- coursing joint
- creep joint
- cross-halving joint
- dovetail joint
- elbow joint
- expansion joint
- finger joint
- flat joint
- flexible joint (example: living hinge)
- gin joint
- glenohumeral joint
- grind joint
- groove-joint pliers
- ground glass joint
- head joint
- hinge joint
- hip joint
- hop joint
- hypural joint
- jam joint
- joint aspiration
- joint bar
- joint household
- joint investigation team
- joint lock
- joint mouse
- joint oil
- joint pine
- joint snake
- joint space
- joint-stool
- jointed
- jointfir
- jook joint
- juice joint
- juke joint
- knuckle joint
- lap joint
- Lisfranc joint
- master joint
- McIntire joint
- miter joint
- miter-joint
- mitre joint
- mitre-joint
- mortise-and-tenon joint
- neck joint
- nose out of joint
- one-arm joint
- out of joint
- pick-up joint
- rabbet joint
- radiohumeral joint
- rail joint, railjoint
- rigid joint
- rug joint
- rule joint
- rust joint
- sacroiliac joint
- saddle joint
- sawdust joint
- second joint
- shackle joint
- shoulder joint
- SI joint
- straight-joint
- strip joint
- swivel joint
- temporomandibular joint
- temporomandibular joint dysfunction
- TM joint
- toggle joint
- universal joint
- water joint
Translations
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Verb
joint (third-person singular simple present joints, present participle jointing, simple past and past participle jointed)
- (transitive) To unite by a joint or joints; to fit together; to prepare so as to fit together
- to joint boards
- a jointing plane
- 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Pierced through the yielding planks of jointed wood.
- 2014 August 17, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: Repairing and replacing floorboards [print version: Never buy anything from a salesman, 16 August 2014, p. P7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property):
- But I must warn you that chipboard floors are always likely to squeak. The material is still being used in new-builds, but developers now use adhesive to bed and joint it, rather than screws or nails. I suspect the adhesive will eventually embrittle and crack, resulting in the same squeaking problems as before.
- (transitive) To join; to connect; to unite; to combine.
- c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- But soon that war had end, and the time's state
Made friends of them, jointing their force 'gainst Caesar
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- (transitive) To provide with a joint or joints; to articulate.
- (transitive) To separate the joints; of; to divide at the joint or joints; to disjoint; to cut up into joints, as meat.
- 1603, Plutarch, “[The Morals, or Miscellane Works of Plutarch. The Second Tome.] The Seventh Book. Of Symposiaques, or Banquet-Discourses.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 750:
- Another time alſo being minded to entertain king Priamus friendly, when he came unto his pavilion: / He then beſtir'd himſelfe, and caught up ſoone, / A good white ſheepe, whoſe throat he cut anon. / but about cutting it up, quartering, jointing, ſeething, and roſting, he ſpent a great part of the night: […]
- 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- He joints the neck.
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- (intransitive) To fit as if by joints; to coalesce as joints do.
- the stones joint, neatly.
Translations
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References
- joint in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- Tom Dalzell (ed.), The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American and Unconventional English, New York: Routledge, 2009, p. 574.
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dʒɔi̯nt/
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dʒɔi̯nt/, /dʒoːi̯nt/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: joint
French
Etymology 1
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Participle
joint (feminine jointe, masculine plural joints, feminine plural jointes)
- past participle of joindre
Derived terms
Further reading
- “joint”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Old French
Noun
joint m (oblique plural joinz or jointz, nominative singular joinz or jointz, nominative plural joint)
- join; place where two elements are joined together
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English joint, from Middle English joynt, from Old French joint.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d͡ʐɔjnt/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɔjnt
- Syllabification: joint
Declension
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d͡ʒojnt/
Noun
joint n (plural jointuri)
Declension
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) joint | jointul | (niște) jointuri | jointurile |
genitive/dative | (unui) joint | jointului | (unor) jointuri | jointurilor |
vocative | jointule | jointurilor |
Swedish
Pronunciation
- (Sweden) IPA(key): /jɔɪnt/, /dʒɔɪnt/
Audio (joint eller joint) (file)