jitney
/ˈd͡ʒɪtni/noun
jitney is spelled J-I-T-N-E-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 101,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jitney means “Synonym of minibus, especially one with a scheduled fixed route” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jitney is jitneys.
How many letters and syllables are in jitney?
| Letters | 6: J-I-T-N-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 101,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is jitney?
Jitney appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 101,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jitney?
- /ˈd͡ʒɪtni/
- /ˈʒiː-/
Jitney has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jitney.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of jitney
- jitneys plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jitney mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
USarchaicSynonym of nickel, a 5-cent coin or amount.
- 2
Synonym of minibus, especially one with a scheduled fixed route.
- 3
Synonym of gypsy cab, an unlicensed taxi.
- 4
Synonym of shared taxi, a taxi usually shared with strangers to maximize profitability per trip.
- 5
CanadaAn informal lawn bowling, curling, or darts competition in which all players present are randomly drawn into teams.
- 6
A fraudulent arrangement whereby a broker who has direct access to an exchange executes trades on behalf of a broker who does not.
adjective
- 1
USarchaicSynonym of cheap, very inexpensive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does jitney come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).