John Henry

noun

One's signature.

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Meanings

nounJohn Henry (plural John Henrys)

plural John Henrys

  1. idiomaticOne's signature.

    They stepped forward. Bury held a pen at them. “So if you fellows will just put your John Henrys on this document, it's all legal.” The two privates signed it.

    1986, L. Ron Hubbard, Villainy Victorious: Mission Earth
  2. artsA character from American folklore.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
signature

Origin

Believed to be a Western United States cowboy variation (dating from the late 1700s or early 1800s) of John Hancock, the first person to sign the United States Declaration of Independence and whose name later became a synonym for a signature. This usage predates the American folklore hero John Henry from the 1870s.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Friedrich Wilhelm
  • Friedrich Wilhelmsignature
Cite this entry
APA

John Henry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Henry

MLA

“John Henry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Henry. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “John Henry,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Henry.

Source: John Henry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.