Jacques

See also: jacques

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɑːk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɑːk
• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒæk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -æk

Proper noun

Jacques

1. A male given name from French borrowed from French.

Derived terms

• jacques

French

Etymology

From Latin Iācōbus, possibly a semi-learned borrowing (compare inherited Old French James, source of English James), from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿăqōḇ). Doublet of Jacob, a learned borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒak/ ~ /ʒɑk/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (Quebec):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Jacques m

1. a male given name, the French equivalent of James and Jacob, and formerly used as a generic name for peasants
   • 1862, Victor Hugo, chapter 2, in Les Misérables, Tome I : Fantine, book 4; republished as Isabel F. Hapgood, transl., 1887:

     Il n’est pas rare aujourd’hui que le garçon bouvier se nomme Arthur, Alfred ou Alphonse, et que le vicomte — s’il y a encore des vicomtes — se nomme Thomas, Pierre ou Jacques. Ce déplacement qui met le nom « élégant » sur le plébéien et le nom campagnard sur l’aristocrate n’est autre chose qu’un remous d’égalité. L’irrésistible pénétration du souffle nouveau est là comme en tout.

     It is not rare for the neatherd's boy nowadays to bear the name of Arthur, Alfred, or Alphonse, and for the vicomte--if there are still any vicomtes--to be called Thomas, Pierre, or Jacques. This displacement, which places the "elegant" name on the plebeian and the rustic name on the aristocrat, is nothing else than an eddy of equality. The irresistible penetration of the new inspiration is there as everywhere else.

2. James (biblical character)
3. James (book of the Bible)
4. a surname originating as a patronymic

Derived terms

• coquille Saint-Jacques
• habillé comme la chienne à Jacques
• Jacques a dit
• jacques
• noix de Saint-Jacques
• s’habiller comme la chienne à Jacques

Related terms

• (pet forms): Jacquot, Jacquet, Jacot, Jacquine, Jakou
• (feminine form): Jacqueline

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: Jak
• → Albanian: Zhak, Xhak, Xhakë
• → Dutch: Sjaak
• → English: Jacques, Jack (more often a diminutive of John)
• → Latvian: Žaks
• → Chinese: 雅克 (Yǎkè) (transliteration)

Norman

Etymology

From Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿăqōḇ).

Proper noun

Jacques m

1. a male given name, equivalent to French Jacques or English Jack
2. James (biblical character)