jitney
/ˈd͡ʒɪtni/
jitney noun: synonym of nickel, a 5-cent coin or amount.
Noun
jitney (plural jitneys)
- Synonym of nickel, a 5-cent coin or amount.
- Synonyms:
- nickel
- Synonym of minibus, especially one with a scheduled fixed route.
- Synonyms:
- minibus
- Synonym of gypsy cab, an unlicensed taxi.
- Synonyms:
- gypsy cab
- Synonym of shared taxi, a taxi usually shared with strangers to maximize profitability per trip.
- […] I said good-by and took the bags downstairs and hailed a Frisco taxi-jitney, which was an ordinary taxi that ran a regular route and you could hail it from any corner and ride to any corner you want for about fifteen cents, cramped in with other passengers like on a bus, but talking and telling...1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3
- Synonyms:
- shared taxi
- An informal lawn bowling, curling, or darts competition in which all players present are randomly drawn into teams.
- A fraudulent arrangement whereby a broker who has direct access to an exchange executes trades on behalf of a broker who does not.
Adjective
jitney (not comparable)
- Synonym of cheap, very inexpensive.
- Synonyms:
- cheap, very inexpensive
jitney meaning in Tamil
jitney in Tamil
- பேருந்து
Synonyms of jitney
- nickel
- minibus
- gypsy cab
- shared taxi
- cheap
- very inexpensive
Forms of jitney
| plural | jitneys |
|---|
Origin of jitney
1886, originally for a five-cent US coin (a nickel); use for taxis and buses due to these services originally charging five cents as fare, popularized circa 1915. The etymology is uncertain; it is believed to originate from Louisiana Creole jetnée, from French jeton (“token, coin-sized metal disc”), though this is disputed. Evidence for the Louisiana Creole French origin includes the geographic distribution (Southeastern US, especially Black/African-American), and early spelling as gitney, which is common French spelling for the /ʒi/ pronunciation.
Words formed from jitney
Questions about jitney
- What does jitney mean?
- Jitney means synonym of nickel, a 5-cent coin or amount.
- What is jitney in Tamil?
- Jitney in Tamil is பேருந்து. See Jitney meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is jitney?
- Jitney can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce jitney?
- Jitney is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɪtni/.
- What is the plural of jitney?
- The plural of jitney is jitneys.
Words near jitney in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: jitney (page history and authors); jitney (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-jitney.wav.
Cite this entry: “jitney.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jitney. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.