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Glite Dictionary
John Jay

John Jay

2 6.0
An American leader who helped make peace with Britain and became the first Chief Justice of the United States
  • proper noun
  • /dʒɒn dʒeɪ/
: John Jay
  • Chief Justice John Jay made clear that "a state is suable by citizens of another state." 147

Examples

  • "But other former prosecutors caution that independent investigations, too, may not be the panacea many envision. To assume that special prosecutors will be independent is a mistake," said Delores Jones-Brown, a former New Jersey prosecutor and a professor at the John Jay College Center on Race, Crime and Justice in Manhattan, to The New York Times last week.

  • Chief Justice John Jay made clear that "a state is suable by citizens of another state." 147

  • The attorney suing the city on behalf of an activist newspaper invoked a centuries-old exchange between Thomas Jefferson and John Jay.

Surface Forms

John Jay main

Morphology

John + Jay

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical individual; knowing the words 'John' and 'Jay' does not convey his role, dates, or significance. The referential identity of a person name is arbitrary and non-compositional, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning or biography.

Etymology

John Jay was an American leader in the late 1700s who helped make peace with Britain and then became the country's 'first Chief Justice', so remember him as the diplomat who became the first head judge of the United States Supreme Court.