Joe
/dʒoʊ/noun
An informal term for an ordinary man or, especially in North American English, a cup of coffee.
Did you know?The popular claim that coffee became “joe” because Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels banned alcohol in 1914 is widely repeated but historically unproven; the coffee sense is documented later.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew
יוֹסֵף (Yosef)
“A personal name traditionally understood as “he will add” or “may he add.””
Ancient Greek
Greek
Ἰωσήφ (Iōsēph)
“The Greek form of the Hebrew personal name Yosef.”
Late Antiquity
Latin
Ioseph
“The Latin form of the biblical name.”
Middle English
English
Joseph
“The established English form of the biblical personal name.”
19th Century
English
Joe
“A familiar shortened form of Joseph; it also began appearing in informal expressions for an ordinary or typical man.”
20th Century
American English
joe
“An informal term for coffee, with the exact origin uncertain; the sense is documented by the mid-20th century.”