jänta

See also: janta and jantă

Swedish

Etymology

Derived from Old Norse genta, from gant (“joke, foolery”). Cognate with Norwegian jente.

Noun

jänta c

1. a girl (female child or young woman)
   • (Can we date this quote?), “Å jänta [jäntan], å [och] ja' [jag] [[And] my lass and me]”, Fredrik August Dahlgren (lyrics), traditional (music)‎^[1]performed by Sven-Ingvars:

     [dialectal, Värmländska]
     Å [och] jänta [jäntan], å [och] ja' [jag]
     Å [och] jänta [jäntan], å [och] ja' [jag]
     Allt [likely filler] ut på landavägen [landsvägen], å [och] ja' [jag]
     Å [och] jänta [jäntan], å [och] ja' [jag]
     Å [och] jänta [jäntan], å [och] ja' [jag]
     Allt [likely filler] ut på landavägen [landsvägen]
     Där mötte ho [hon] mig en môra [morgon] så klar
     Å [och] sola [solen] ho [hon] sken på himmelen så rar
     Å [och] vacker som ljusan dagen hon var
     Mitt hjärte [hjärta], vart tog det vägen?

     [And] my lass and me
     [And] my lass and me
     Out on the highway, and me
     [And] my lass and me
     [And] my lass and me
     Out on the highway
     There she met me on a morning so clear
     And the sun [she / it] shone so sweetly in the sky
     And as beautiful as the bright day she was
     My heart, where did it go?

Usage notes

Somewhat folksy. Could also be translated as lass, gal, wench, etc., depending on context.

Declension

Declension of jänta

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	jänta	jäntas
	definite	jäntan	jäntans
plural	indefinite	jäntor	jäntors
	definite	jäntorna	jäntornas

Synonyms

• fjälla
• flicka
• tjej
• tös

 

Related terms

• jäntunge

References

• jänta in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• jänta in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• jänta in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• tjäna, tänja