Jonestown

English

Etymology

From Jones +‎ town, after Reverend Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple.

Proper noun

Jonestown

1. A former settlement in northern Guyana founded by the Peoples Temple cult, and the site of an infamous mass murder-suicide in November 1978.
2. (informal) The Jonestown massacre itself.
3. Any of a number of other places in the English-speaking world.

Derived terms

• Jonestowner

Translations

a former settlement in Guyana; site of the 1978 mass murder / suicide

• Latin: Jonesopolis
• Lithuanian: Džonstaunas

the Jonestown massacre itself

See also

• drink the Kool-Aid

Noun

Jonestown (plural Jonestowns)

1. Any mass suicide or murder, especially one with religious or cultic overtones.

Translations

a massacre, esp. with religious or cultic overtones