Jonah

[joh-nuh] /ˈdʒoʊ nə/
noun
1.
a Minor Prophet who, for his impiety, was thrown overboard from his ship and swallowed by a large fish, remaining in its belly for three days before being cast up onto the shore unharmed.
2.
a book of the Bible bearing his name.
3.
any person or thing regarded as bringing bad luck.
4.
Also, Jonas
[joh-nuh s] /ˈdʒoʊ nəs/ (Show IPA). a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “dove.”.
Related forms
Jonahesque, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Jonah

Jonah

/ˈdʒəʊnə/
noun
1.
(Old Testament)
  1. a Hebrew prophet who, having been thrown overboard from a ship in which he was fleeing from God, was swallowed by a great fish and vomited onto dry land
  2. the book in which his adventures are recounted
2.
a person believed to bring bad luck to those around him; a jinx
Derived Forms
Jonahesque, adjective
Word Origin and History for Jonah

masc. proper name, biblical prophet, from Hebrew Yonah, literally "dove, pigeon."

Jonah in the Bible

a dove, the son of Amittai of Gath-hepher. He was a prophet of Israel, and predicted the restoration of the ancient boundaries (2 Kings 14:25-27) of the kingdom. He exercised his ministry very early in the reign of Jeroboam II., and thus was contemporary with Hosea and Amos; or possibly he preceded them, and consequently may have been the very oldest of all the prophets whose writings we possess. His personal history is mainly to be gathered from the book which bears his name. It is chiefly interesting from the two-fold character in which he appears, (1) as a missionary to heathen Nineveh, and (2) as a type of the "Son of man."