Joan of Arc

Meaning

Proper Noun

• A historical figure known for her involvement in the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War who was later captured and executed by the English.

Related

Similar words

• the Maid of Orléans

Origin

• . According to surviving signatures, her Old French given name was Jehanne, feminine form of Jehan (which cognates in English to John). In the English language, her first name has been repeated as Joan since the fifteenth century because that was the only English equivalent for the feminine form of John during her lifetime. She did not come from a place called Arc; d'Arc was attributed because of her father's surname, which was most likely Darc. Apostrophes were never used in fifteenth-century French surnames, which sometimes leads to confusion when analyzing such names.