Jemima
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From the name of a minor biblical character, from Hebrew יְמִימָה (“dove”). By folk etymology also used as a feminine form of James.
Proper noun
[edit]Jemima
- A female given name from Hebrew.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 42:13-15:
- He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
- 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter XVII, in Ruth:
- -- and at last Jemima was fixed upon, because it would do either for a Scripture name or for a heroine out of a book."
"I did not know Jemima was a Scripture name," said Ruth.
"Oh yes, it is. One of Job's daughters; Jemima, Kezia, and Keren-Happuch. There are a good many Jemimas in the world, and some Kezias, but I never heard of a Keren-Happuch; and yet we know just as much of one as of another. People really like a pretty name, whether Scripture or out of it."
- 2005, Zadie Smith, On Beauty, Penguin, published 2006, →ISBN, page 51:
- But then, thought Kiki, they were brought up that way, these white American boys: I'm the Aunt Jemima on the cookie boxes of their childhoods, the pair of thick ankles Tom and Jerry played around. Of course they find me funny.
- 2011, Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 165:a:
- Fancy southern names which she couldn't remember five minutes after they'd told her. Camilla? Amelia? Jemima? It didn't matter. Ashworth would have made a note of them.
Usage notes
[edit]- Jemima has largely fallen out of use in North America due to the association with advertising character Aunt Jemima, interpreted as a racist stereotype of African-Americans. See Aunt Jemima.
Translations
[edit]Noun
[edit]Jemima (plural Jemimas)
Anagrams
[edit]Faroese
[edit]Proper noun
[edit]Jemima f
- a female given name
Usage notes
[edit]Matronymics
- son of Jemima: Jemimuson
- daughter of Jemima: Jemimudóttir
Declension
[edit]singular | |
---|---|
indefinite | |
nominative | Jemima |
accusative | Jemimu |
dative | Jemimu |
genitive | Jemimu |
Categories:
- English terms derived from Hebrew
- English lemmas
- English proper nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English given names
- English female given names
- English female given names from Hebrew
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Faroese lemmas
- Faroese proper nouns
- Faroese feminine nouns
- Faroese given names
- Faroese female given names