A familiar form of John, the most widely spread of Christian names, and said to be derived from the French
s others maintain, from
distinctive form of
r
b>Johnkin gives us
nd
rom its extreme commonness it has acquired that slightly contemptuous signification observable in such compounds as "every man
quot;
quot;
nd the name as applied to the knaves in playing-cards, and to the small white ball used as a mark in the game of bowls is an example of its transferred sense.