Jor·dan (jôr dn) A country of southwest Asia in northwest Arabia. Inhabited since biblical times, the area was conquered by the Romans (first century a.d.), Arabs (seventh century), and Ottoman Turks, who held it from 1516 until World War I. As Transjordan the country became part of the British mandate of Palestine in 1920, gaining independence in 1946. It was renamed Jordan in 1949 after acquiring the West Bank, which it later renounced in 1974. Amman is the capital and the largest city. Population: 6,050,000. Jor·da ni·an (jôr-d n - n) adj. & n. |   |
| Jordan, Barbara Charline 1936-1996. American politician. An eloquent spokesperson for the rights of poor people and minority groups, she served as a U.S. representative for Texas (1973-1979). |
| Jordan, Michael Jeffrey Born 1963. American basketball player. A guard with the Chicago Bulls (1985-1993, 1995-1999) he holds a National Basketball Association record for most seasons leading the league in scoring, and was named the NBA's most valuable player four times. |
Jordan [ˈdʒɔːdən]
n
1. (Placename) a kingdom in SW Asia: coextensive with the biblical Moab, Gilead, and Edom; made a League of Nations mandate and emirate under British control in 1922 and became an independent kingdom in 1946; territories west of the River Jordan and the Jordanian part of Jerusalem (intended to be part of an autonomous Palestine) were occupied by Israel after the war of 1967. It contains part of the Great Rift Valley and consists mostly of desert. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: dinar. Capital: Amman. Pop.: 5 132 000 (2001 est.). Area: 89 185 sq. km (34 434 sq. miles) Official name Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Former name (1922-49) Trans-Jordan
2. (Placename) the chief and only perennial river of Israel and Jordan, rising in several headstreams in Syria and Lebanon, and flowing south through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea: occupies the N end of the Great Rift Valley system and lies mostly below sea level. Length: over 320 km (200 miles)
Jordan2
n
1. (Biographies / Jordan, Michael (Jeffrey) (1963 M, US, SPORT AND GAMES: basketball player) Michael (Jeffrey). born 1963, US basketball player
2. (Biographies / Jordan, Neil (1950 M, Irish, FILMS AND TV: director, WRITING: writer) Neil. born 1950, Irish film director and writer; his films include The Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), The Crying Game (1992), Michael Collins (1996), and The End of the Affair (2000)
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  Jordan - a river in Palestine that empties into the Dead Sea; John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the JordanCanaan, Holy Land, Promised Land, Palestine - an ancient country in southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea; a place of pilgrimage for Christianity and Islam and Judaism |
| 2. | Jordan - an Arab kingdom in southwestern Asia on the Red Sea al-Asifa, al-Fatah, Fatah - a Palestinian political and military organization founded by Yasser Arafat in 1958 to work toward the creation of a Palestinian state; during the 1960s and 1970s trained terrorist and insurgent groups; "al-Fatah carried out numerous acts of international terrorism in western Europe and the Middle East in the 1970s" Black September Movement - a former Palestinian terrorist organization (now merged with Fatah Revolutionary Council) that assassinated the Prime Minister of Jordan and during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich killed 11 Israeli athletes Arab League - an international organization of independent Arab states formed in 1945 to promote cultural and economic and military and political and social cooperation Middle East, Mideast, Near East - the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century; "the Middle East is the cradle of Western civilization" Amman, capital of Jordan - the capital and largest city of Jordan Syrian Desert - a desert of northern Arabia occupying western Iraq, southern Syria, eastern Jordan, and northern Saudi Arabia Asia - the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations Dead Sea - a saltwater lake on the border between Israel and Jordan; its surface in 1292 feet below sea level Jordanian - a native or inhabitant of Jordan |
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