John Doe

1. Used as a name in legal proceedings to designate an unknown man or boy or to protect the identity of a known man or boy.

2. An average or ordinary man.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

John Doe

(Law) See Doe

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

John′ Doe′

(doʊ)
n.

1. an anonymous, average man.

2. a fictitious name used in legal proceedings for a male party whose true name is not known. Compare Jane Doe, Richard Roe.

3. an unidentified man: The police were looking for a John Doe.

[1760–70]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	John Doe - a hypothetical average man Joe Bloggs, Joe Blow, man in the street common man, common person, commoner - a person who holds no title
	2.	John Doe - an unknown or fictitious man who is a party to legal proceedings law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" party - a person involved in legal proceedings; "the party of the first part"

Translations

Otto Normalverbraucher

ser un cero a la izquierda

untel

Jón Jónsson

Fulano

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Now, I have a mental picture of John Doe that is as clear as a steel engraving.

View in context

Those charming creations of the poet, John Doe and Richard Roe, when they first dawn upon him, will open a new world for the enlargement of his mind and the improvement of his heart.'

View in context

In short, in his bringing up he has been so nursed by Law and Equity that he has become a kind of fossil imp, to account for whose terrestrial existence it is reported at the public offices that his father was John Doe and his mother the only female member of the Roe family, also that his first long-clothes were made from a blue bag.

View in context

In a suit filed this month in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, Ackerman is accused of abusing a then-17-year-old identified only as "John Doe" while Ackerman was a director at the Ten Mile River Camp near Narrowsburg, in upstate New York.

Ex-congressman from New York denies child sex abuse allegations

(How can you file a case without names - John Doe? John Go?

Gordon to China: If you are a friend, give us names of Chinese crew

John Doe and his infant daughter, Jane, appeared on the steps of the Manor the night the earthquakes started and the gateway to the Otherworlds closed.

ane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds

Suddenly, Mandy, Danny and a John Doe intruded into the house through the back door.

Badge of truth

Represented by noted sexual harassment attorney Genie Harrison, John Doe is suing the 'Usual Suspects' actor for battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kevin Spacey faces another lawsuit over sexual assault

Until 2016, unidentified fathers in dependency and neglect cases were listed as "John Doe," and caseworkers worked with the mother and her family on safety goals for the child.

John Doe Is Not the Father: How a Practice Change Helped Families in Denver

These sites also contain remains that have not yet been identified and buried and the analysis has shown that by examining the John Doe remains in these objects, they have now reached 121 new identities and hundreds of re-association reports, as well as data on historical remains (remains outside the mandate of the Missing Persons Institute - BiH MPI), and other categories of John Doe cases.

Reports on identification of remains in BiH presented

Focus: Stored Communications Act Good Faith Defense This appeal requires us once again to delve into the intricacies of the Wisconsin John Doe proceeding, a unique creature of Wisconsin law with some similarities to a grand jury investigation.

Stored Communications Act Good Faith Defense