Lexic.us

Definition of John Doe

1. Noun. A hypothetical average man.

2. Noun. An unknown or fictitious man who is a party to legal proceedings.

Definition of John Doe

1. Noun. A fictitious name used in the legal documents for an unknown or anonymous male person. ¹

2. Noun. (idiomatic) Any unknown or anonymous male person. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of John Doe

John Chapman John Charles Fremont John Cheever John Chrysostom John Churchill John Ciardi John Constable John Copley John D. Rockefeller John Dalton

John Davis John Davison Rockefeller John Davys John Deere John Dewey John Doe (current term) John Does John Donald Budge John Donne John Dory

John Dowland John Drew John Dryden John Duns Scotus John Eccles John Edgar Hoover John Edward Masefield John Endecott John Endicott

Literary usage of John Doe

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1840)
"YORKSHIRE, to-wit—Richard Roe was attached to answer John Doe of a plea wherefore the said Richard Roe, with force and arms, &c., entered into two messuages ..."

2. The Law of Pleading and Evidence in Civil Actions: Arranged Alphabetically by John Simcoe Saunders (1844)
"By virtue of which said several demises, the said John Doe entered into the said several tenements above-mentioned, with the appurtenances, and became and ..."

3. A Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions: Comprising a by Henry John Stephen (1898)
"By virtue of which said demise the eaid John Doe entered into the said tenements, ... And the said John Doe being so thereof possessed, the said CD, ..."

4. The Westminster Review by John Chapman, Charles William Wason (1825)
"(Middlesex, to wit) Richard Roe was attached to answer John Doe of a plea, wherefore, he the said Richard Roe with force and arms entered into 5 messuages 5 ..."

5. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"... "Damon and Pythias" and "The Prodigal"; and the novels, "John Doe", "The Fetches", "Peter of the Castle", "The Mayor of Windgap", and "The Boyne Water", ..."

6. American Law and Procedure by James Parker Hall, James De Witt Andrews (1910)
"John Doe warrants. There has long been a prevailing notion, unfounded in law and ... A warrant which directs the officer to arrest John Doe, is only valid ..."

7. Hand-book of Common-law Pleading by Benjamin Jonson Shipman (1895)
"CD was attached to answer John Doe of a plea, wherefore he. the Bald CD, with force and arms, entered Into five messuages, five stables, five coach-houses, ..."

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