Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a variety of red apple that matures in early autumn.
noun
- a son of Saul and friend of David. I Sam. 18–20.
- Archaic. an American, especially a New Englander.Compare Brother Jonathan.
- a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “God gave.”
noun
- a variety of red apple that ripens in early autumn
noun
- Old Testament the son of Saul and David’s close friend, who was killed in battle (I Samuel 31; II Samuel 1:19–26)
masc. proper name, biblical son of Saul, from Hebrew Yonathan, short for Yehonathan, literally “the Lord has given” (cf. Nathan). As a pre-Uncle Sam emblem of the United States, sometimes personified as Brother Jonathan, it dates from 1816, said to have been applied by Washington to Gov. Jonathan Trumbull Sr. of Connecticut (1710-1785), to whom he sometimes turned for advice (cf. 2 Sam. i:26); hence “a New Englander,” and eventually “an American.” As a variety of red apple it dates from 1831, so called because it was introduced in the U.S.