Jessica
See also: Jéssica
English
Etymology
First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrew יִסְכָּה (yiskah, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "one who looks forth" (but apparently not used as an ordinary word with that meaning).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Jessica (plural Jessicas)
- A female given name from Hebrew; formerly rare, but since the 1970s popular in all English-speaking countries.
- 1594 William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice: 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.
- Jessica: In such a night / Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well, / Stealing her soul with many vows of faith, / And ne'er a true one.
- Lorenzo: In such a night / Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, / Slander her love, and he forgave it her.
- 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.
- 1594 William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice: Act V: Scene I:
Related terms
Translations
a female given name
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Cebuano
Etymology
Proper noun
Jessica
- a female given name
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:Jessica.
Danish
Proper noun
Jessica
- a female given name recently borrowed from English.
French
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Jessica ?
- a female given name borrowed from English, popular in the end of the 20th century.
German
Proper noun
Jessica
- a female given name borrowed from English, popular in the end of the 20th century.
Swedish
Alternative forms
Proper noun
Jessica c (genitive Jessicas)
- a female given name borrowed from English and popular in the end of the 20th century.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Hebrew
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English proper nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English given names
- English female given names
- English female given names from Hebrew
- Cebuano terms derived from English
- Cebuano lemmas
- Cebuano proper nouns
- Cebuano terms spelled with J
- Cebuano terms spelled with C
- Cebuano given names
- Cebuano female given names
- Danish lemmas
- Danish proper nouns
- Danish terms spelled with C
- Danish given names
- Danish female given names
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French proper nouns
- French given names
- French female given names
- German lemmas
- German proper nouns
- German given names
- German female given names
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish proper nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish given names
- Swedish female given names