Wiktionary

Jessica

See also: Jéssica, Jessicą, and Jessyca

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה (yiská, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "he will see/behold/look for", the 3ms imperfect form of a verb ultimately from the root ס־כ־ה (s-k-h),[1] itself an alternative form of the root שׂ־כ־ה (ś-k-h), both of which mean "to see, behold, look for".[2]

  • By folk etymology seen as an elaborate form of Jessie, from Jane.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Jessica (plural Jessicas)

  1. A female given name from Hebrew.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
      Lorenzo: In such a night / Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, / And with an unthrift love did run from Venice, / As far as Belmont.
    • 1996, Tad Williams, The Writer's Child, The Sandman Book of Dreams, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 154:
      She will be beautiful, of course - how could our child not be beautiful? We will name her...Jessica. Yes, that's a good name, not one of those lighter-than-air names so popular among writers of romances and fairy tales. That's a name a real little girl might have.
    • 2015, Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:
      Jessica. It was, she later thought, a name well suited to whitehaired ladies with bright blue eyes.

Usage notes

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  • Formerly rare, but from the 1970s to the 2010s popular in all English-speaking countries.
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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Klein, Ernest (1987) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 445
  2. ^ Klein, Ernest (1987) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎[2], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 656

Cebuano

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Etymology

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From English Jessica.

Proper noun

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Jessica

  1. a female given name

Quotations

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For quotations using this term, see Citations:Jessica.

Danish

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Etymology

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Recently borrowed from English Jessica.

Proper noun

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Jessica

  1. a female given name

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English Jessica, popular at the end of the 20th century.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Jessica f

  1. a female given name

German

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English Jessica, popular at the end of the 20th century.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Jessica

  1. a female given name

Polish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English Jessica.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Jessica f

  1. Alternative spelling of Dżesika

Declension

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Declension of Jessica
singular plural
nominative Jessica Jessiki
genitive Jessiki Jessic
dative Jessice Jessicom
accusative Jessicę Jessiki
instrumental Jessicą Jessicami
locative Jessice Jessicach
vocative Jessico Jessiki

Further reading

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  • Jessica in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English Jessica.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /xeˈsika/ [xeˈsi.ka]
  • Rhymes: -ika
  • Syllabification: Jes‧si‧ca

Proper noun

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Jessica f

  1. a female given name

Swedish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English Jessica, popular at the end of the 20th century.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Jessica c (genitive Jessicas)

  1. a female given name
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