Jack

English edit

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Jack

Etymology edit

From Middle English Jackin, Jankin, a popular pet form of John; rarely also an anglicized form of French Jacques (equivalent of Jacob and James). It can be also used as nickname for Jacob. Though the name was originally a pet form, it has become more of an independent name. Equivalent to John + -kin, Jake or Jacques.

See also Middle French Hennequin, Jannequin and Middle Dutch Janneken.

Pronunciation edit

enPR: jăk, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒæk/
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -æk

Proper noun edit

Jack (countable and uncountable, plural Jacks)

A unisex given name from Hebrew, also used as a pet form of John or more rarely, Jacob.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
  Since every Jack became a gentleman
  there's many a gentle person made a Jack.
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry, Sirnamed Hot-spvrre”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act II, scene iv, page 58, column 1:
  Heere comes leane Iacke, heere comes bare-bone. How now my ſweet Creature of Bombaſt, how long is't agoe, Iacke, ſince thou ſaw'ſt thine owne Knee?
- 1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest […] , [Act I]:
  JACK. Well, really, Gwendolen, I must say that I think that there are lots of other much nicer names. I think Jack, for instance, a charming name.
  GWENDOLEN. Jack?...No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces absolutely no vibrations...I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain. Besides, Jack is a notorious domesticity for John!
A surname.
(colloquial) Jack Daniel's, a brand of Tennessee whiskey.
- 2009, "Ke$ha" (Kesha Rose Sebert), Tik Tok (song)
  Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack.
- 2017, Halsey, Ricky Reed, Justin Tranter, Rogét Chahayed, “Bad at Love”, in Hopeless Fountain Kingdom‎^[1], performed by Halsey:
  Got a boy back home in Michigan / And it tastes like Jack when I'm kissing him / So I told him that I never really liked his friends / Now he's gone and he's calling me a bitch again
An unincorporated community in Coffee County, Alabama, United States.
An unincorporated community in Dent County, Missouri, United States.

Derived terms edit

diminutives: Jacky, Jackie
surnames: Jackson

Descendants edit

→ Danish: Jack
→ Swedish: Jack

Translations edit

pet name of John

Arabic: جَاك m (jak)
Bengali: জ্যাক (jêk)
Bulgarian: Джак m (Džak)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 傑克／杰克 (zh) (Jiékè)
Czech: Honza (cs) m, Honzík (cs) m
Danish: Jack
Esperanto: Ĵakvo, Joĉjo (eo)
Finnish: Jussi (fi)
French: Jeannot (fr) m
German: Hans (de) m, Hanns (de) m, Hannes (de) m, Hänsel (de) m, Hansel m, Hansl m
Greek: Γιάννης (el) m (Giánnis), Τζακ (el) (Tzak) (transliteration from English)
Hindi:
Hungarian: Jancsi (hu), Jankó (hu)
Italian: Gianni (it) m
Japanese: ジャック (ja) (Jakku)
Korean: 잭 (Jaek)
Latin: Iohannes m, Ioannes (la) m
Maltese: Ġwakkin
Maori: Haki
Marathi: जॅक m (jĕk)
Persian: جک (fa) (jak)
Polish: Jasiek (pl) m, Jaś (pl) m
Portuguese: João (pt) m
Russian: Ва́ня (ru) m (Vánja), Джек (ru) m (Džek) (transliteration)
Scottish Gaelic: Seoc m
Slovak: Jano m, Janko m
Slovene: Janko, Jani
Spanish: Juanito (es) m
Swedish: Jack (sv) c
Welsh: Jac m

anglicized form of Jacques

Abkhaz: Еқәыԥ (Ekʷəp)
Afrikaans: Jakobus (af), Jaco, Jako
Aghwan: 𐔺𐔰𐕄𐕒𐔱 (yaḳob)
Arabic: جَاك m (jak), يَعْقُوب (ar) m (yaʕqūb), جَيْمْس m (jayms), جَايْمْز m (jaymz) (transliteration)
Aragonese: Chaime
Aramaic:
Syriac: ܝܥܩܘܒ
Armenian: Հակոբ (hy) (Hakob)
Old Armenian: Յակոբ (Yakob)
Azerbaijani: Ceyms
Bashkir: Яҡуп (Yaqup)
Basque: Jakes
Bavarian: Jakoub
Belarusian: Я́каў m (Jákaŭ)
Bengali: জ্যাক (jêk)
Breton: Jagu, Jakez (br)
Bulgarian: Яков m (Jakov), Джак m (Džak)
Catalan: Jaume (ca), Xaume
Cebuano: Santiago
Chinese:
Cantonese: 雅各 (ngaa⁵ gok³)

Eastern Min: 雅各 (Ngā-gáuk)

Mandarin: 傑克／杰克 (zh) (Jiékè)
Coptic: ⲓⲁⲕⲱⲃ (iakōb)
Cornish: Jago
Corsican: Ghjàcumu (co)
Czech: Jakub (cs) m
Danish: Jakob (da), Jacob, Jack
Dutch: Jaap (nl), Jakob (nl), Jacob (nl), Jacobus
Esperanto: Jakobo
Estonian: Jaak
Ewe: Yakob m
Faroese: Jákup (fo), Jakob, Jacob
Finnish: Jaakko (fi)
Franco-Provençal: Jâque
French: Jacques (fr), Jacob (fr), Jack (fr)
Friulian: Jacum
Galician: Iago (gl), Xacobe (gl), Xácome (gl), Xaime (gl), Santiago (gl) m
Georgian: იაკობი (iaḳobi), ჯეიმზ (ǯeimz) (transliteration)
German: Jakob (de), Jacob, Jakobus (de), Jacobus (de)
Greek: Ιάκωβος (el) m (Iákovos), Ιακώβ (el) m (Iakóv), Τζέιμς (el) (Tzéims)
Ancient Greek: Ἰάκωβος m (Iákōbos)
Greenlandic: Jaaku (kl)
Hausa: Yaƙubu
Hawaiian: Kimo, Iakopo, Iakopa
Hebrew: (transcription) ג׳ק m
Hindi: जैक (jaik)
Hungarian: Jakab (hu)
Icelandic: Jakob (is), Jakop (is), Jaki (is), Jack (is)
Ido: Iakobus (io) m
Inuktitut: ᔮᑯᑉ (yaakop)
Irish: Séamas (ga) m, Séamus m
Italian: Giacomo (it), Giacobbe (it) m, Jacopo (it) m, Iago (it) m
Japanese: ヤコブ (Yakobu), ジャック (ja) (Jakku), ジェームズ (Jēmuzu), ジェイムズ (Jeimuzu), サンティアゴ (ja) (Santiago)
Korean: 야곱 (yagop), 야고보 (Yagobo), 제임스 (Jeimseu), 잭 (Jaek)
Latin: Iacobus (la) m, Jacobus m, Jacomus (Late Latin)
Latvian: Jēkabs m, (transliteration) Džeimss m
Limburgish: Jakobus
Lithuanian: Jokūbas
Macedonian: Јаков m (Jakov)
Malay: Yakub, Yaakub, Yaacob (British misspelling)
Maltese: Ġakbu (mt)
Manchu: ᠶᠠᡴᠣᠪ (yakob)
Manx: Jamys (gv)
Maori: Hākopa, Haki, Hēmi (mi)
Marathi: जॅक m (jĕk)
Navajo: Jéíkab
Ngazidja Comorian: Yakub, Yakuba
Norman: Jâcob m, Jimce m
Northern Sami: Jáhkot
Norwegian: Jakob (no), Jacob (no), Jack (no)
Occitan: Jammes, James (oc), Jacme (oc) (Provençal), Jaume (oc)
Persian: یعقوب (fa) (ya'qub), جیمز (fa) (jeymz)
Polish: Jakub (pl)
Portuguese: Jacó (pt) m, Iago (pt), Tiago (pt), Diogo (pt), Jaime (pt)
Romanian: Iacob (ro)
Russian: Я́ков (ru) (Jákov), Джеймс (ru) m (Džejms) (transliteration)
Scots: Hamish, Jaucob, Jack, James, Jamie, Jeames, Peem
Scottish Gaelic: Seumas (gd), Sheumais (gd)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Јаков

Roman: Jakov m
Sicilian: Jàbbucu m, Jàcumu m
Slovak: Jakub
Slovene: Jakob (sl) m
Spanish: Jacobo (es), Jacob (es), Santiago (es), Santi (es), Diego (es), Jaime (es), Yago (es), Iago
Swahili: Yakobo (sw), Yaakub
Swedish: Jakob (sv), Jacob (sv), Jack (sv) c
Tagalog: Jaime, Santiago (tl)
Thai: ยาโคบ (yaa-kôhp)
Turkish: Yakub, Yakup
Ukrainian: Я́ків m (Jákiv)
Vietnamese: Giacôbê, Giacôbe, Giacóp, Giacơ, Yacôbê
Walloon: Djåke (wa)
Waray-Waray: Santiago
Welsh: Jac m, Iago (cy)
West Frisian: Jakobus, Japik
Yiddish: יעקבֿ m (yakev)
Zealandic: Jakobus

Noun edit

Jack (plural Jacks)

(informal) A placeholder or conventional name for any man, particularly a younger, lower-class man.
(informal, archaic) Ellipsis of Jack Tar., a sailor.
- 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 1:
  When he went home on leave he rioted on a large scale—pompously. Jack ashore—with a difference—in externals only.
(informal, archaic) Ellipsis of Jack Rum., a soldier.
A jacqueminot rose.

Usage notes edit

Despite being a common noun, the word is still treated as a name and capitalized as such. The name is most often used with a descriptive "surname", showing the type of lad intended.