Jacob

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Late Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος, from Hebrew יעקב (ya'aqóbh; Modern: Yaakov, “Jacob”, literally “heel-grabber”), from עקב (‘aqev, “heel of the foot”). Cognate with James.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdʒeɪkəb/, SAMPA: /"dZeIk@b/

Proper noun

Jacob

1. (biblical) One of the sons of Isaac and Rebecca, and twin brother of Esau; father of the Israelites.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version), Genesis 25:27

     And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents

2. A male given name.
   • 1927 Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises: Chapter III:

     "Georgette. How are you called?" "Jacob." "That's a Flemish name." "American too." "You're not a Flamand?" "No, American." "Good, I detest Flamands." - - -

     Brett smiled at him. "I've promised to dance this with Jacob," she laughed. "You've a hell of a biblical name, Jake."

3. A breed of multihorned sheep.

Synonyms

• (father of the Israelites): Israel

Derived terms

• Jacobean

Related terms

• James and its variants
• Jake, Jay, Jacques
• feminine: Jacqueline

Translations

one of the sons of Isaac and Rebecca

Armenian: Հակոբ (hy) (Hakob) Chinese (Mandarin): 雅各 (Yǎgè) Czech: Jakub (cs) Danish: Jakob (da) Dutch: Jakob (nl) Estonian: Jaakob (et) Ewe: Yakob m. Faroese: Jákup (fo) Finnish: Jaakob (fi) French: Jacob (fr) German: Jakob (de) Greek: Ιακώβ (Iakóv) Hawaiian: Iakoba Hebrew: יעקב (Ya'akov) Icelandic: Jakob (is)

Italian: Giacobbe (it) Latin: Jacobus (la) Latvian: Jēkabs (lv) m. Maltese: Ġakob Navajo: Jéíkab Norwegian: Jakob (no) Polish: Jakub (pl) Russian: Иа́ков (Iákov) Scottish Gaelic: Hamish Spanish: Jacob (es) Swedish: Jakob (sv) Turkish: Yakup (tr) Ukrainian: Яків (uk) Vietnamese: Giacôbê

male given name (the standard form)

Armenian: Հակոբ (hy) (Hakob) Breton: Jakez Catalan: Jaume Czech: Jakub (cs) Danish: Jacob (da) Estonian: Jaak (et) Ewe: Yakob m. Faroese: Jákup (fo) Finnish: Jaakko (fi) French: Jacob (fr) Galician: Xaime German: Jakob (de) Hawaiian: Iakopa Icelandic: Jakob (is)

Irish: Séamus Italian: Giacobbe (it) Latvian: Jēkabs (lv) m. Navajo: Jéíkab Norwegian: Jakob (no) Polish: Jakub (pl) m. Portuguese: Jaime (pt) Russian: Яков (ru) (Jákov) Scottish Gaelic: Seumas (gd) Spanish: Jacobo (es) Swedish: Jakob (sv) Ukrainian: Яків (uk) West Frisian: Japik

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Danish

Alternative forms

• Jakob

Proper noun

Jacob

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Jacob and James.

Related terms

• (male given names) Ib, Jeppe, Jim, Jimmi, Jimmy
• (surnames) Jacobsen

References

• [1] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 25 930 males with the given name Jacob (compared to 22 417 named Jakob) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

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Dutch

Proper noun

Jacob

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Jacob and James.

Related terms

• Jaap, Japie, Co, Coos, Cobus, Ko, Koos, Koosje, Kobus, Jeep, Japik, Kobbe, Sjimmie, Jim, Jimmy

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French

Proper noun

Jacob

1. (biblical) Jacob.
2. A male given name.

Related terms

• Jacques

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German

Alternative forms

• Jakob

Proper noun

Jacob

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Jacob and James.

Related terms

• Jakobchen, Köb, Köbes, Koeeb, Jäggi, Joggi

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Norwegian

Proper noun

Jacob

1. A male given name, a spelling variant of Jakob.

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Spanish

Proper noun

Jacob m.

1. (biblical) Jacob
   • 1602 — La Santa Biblia (antigua versión de Casiodoro de Reina), rev., Génesis 25:27

     Y crecieron los niños, y Esaú fué diestro en la caza, hombre del campo: Jacob empero era varón quieto, que habitaba en tiendas.

Related terms

• Diego, Santiago, Iago, Diago, Tiago, Yago, Joscia

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Swedish

Proper noun

Jacob

1. A male given name, a spelling variant of Jakob.