Jordan

The word “Jordan” means a country in the Middle East, and the river that flows through it into the Dead Sea. In plain terms, both a Middle Eastern country/river and a popular unisex first name.

“Jordan” is pronounced JAW-duhn (/ˈd͡ʒɔɹdən/ in IPA).

Here is “Jordan” used in a sentence: “They traveled to Jordan to see the ancient city of Petra.”

Depending on how it is used, “Jordan” can be a name and a noun.

The word “Jordan” comes from Latin. The country and river take their name, through Latin and Greek, from the Biblical Hebrew "yardén," meaning the River Jordan.

“Jordan” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Jordan” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a country in the Middle East, and the river that flows through it into the Dead Sea.

Jordan is a country in the Middle East, bordered by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel, and the West Bank. Its capital is Amman. It sits along the eastern side of the Jordan River and touches the northern tip of the Red Sea at Aqaba, giving it a small but valuable stretch of coastline.

The Jordan River flows south from the region near Mount Hermon through the Sea of Galilee and into the Dead Sea. It holds deep religious significance in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is traditionally regarded as the place where Jesus was baptised. It also forms part of the border between Jordan and Israel.

The Jordan River drains into the Dead Sea because the sea sits in the lowest land basin on Earth, with no outlet to any ocean. Water flows in but can only leave by evaporation, which concentrates the salts left behind. That is why the Dead Sea is so extremely salty and dense.