"J" Word Origins

jobe

Origin

Named after the Biblical Job, famous for the long, reproachful speeches of his friends.

jobforce

Origin

From job + force.

jobless

Origin

From job + the suffix -less ("without").

joburg

Origin

Syllabic abbreviation of Johannesburg.

Jocelyn

Old French

From the Middle English male given name from Old French Joscelin, German Gautzelin, diminutive of names beginning with the tribal name Gaut (“a Geat, a Goth”), the root form of which probably comes from Proto-Germanic *Gautalinþiz (from *gautaz + *linþaz); also used as a diminutive form of the Breton name Josse (= Joyce). It survived as a surname and was revived as a given name in the nineteenth century. * Jocelyn is currently popular among U.S. Hispanics, and in the Philippines, by folk etymology explained as a feminine diminutive form of José (Joseph).

jock

Origin

From Jock, a Scots pet form of "John," later generalized as a nickname for a Scotsman and eventually for athletes.

jockey

Origin · 1500

Originally a diminutive of Jock (itself a Scots form of "John"), used generically for horse-dealers and riders from the 16th century onward.

jockeys

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

jocko

Origin

A variant of Jacko.

jocks

Origin

Shortened from "jockey shorts."

jockstrap

Origin

A compound of jock (slang for "penis") and strap, from earlier forms like "jockey strap."

jocose

Origin

From Latin iocōsus (“humorous”), from iocus (“jest, joke”).

jocular

Origin

From Latin iocularis, from ioculus (“a little jest”), diminutive of iocus (“a jest”).

joculatrix

Origin

From Latin ioculātrīx. By surface analysis, joculator + -trix.

jodhpurs

Origin

1913 (earlier as jodhpur breeches, 1899), from Jodhpur, former state in northwestern India. The city at the heart of the state was founded 1459 by Rao Jodha, a local ruler, and is named for him.

jodi

Hindi

Borrowed from Hindi जोड़ी (joṛī) or Marathi जोडी (joḍī), meaning "pair," popularized partly through Bollywood.

Jody

Origin

A variant of Judy, itself a diminutive of Judith; the military "unfaithful partner" sense grew out of this name being used generically.

Joe

Origin

A short form of names beginning "Jo-," especially Joseph.

Joel

Hebrew

From Hebrew Yo'el, combining Yah and El, both names for God.

joey

Origin · 1778

The clown sense is named after Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837), the celebrated English clown; the kangaroo sense likely comes from an Australian Aboriginal word.

jog

Middle English

Origin uncertain; possibly from Middle English joggen, related to a word meaning "to pierce or prod," or from an old sense of "shog" meaning to shake or jolt.

jogger

Origin

From jog + the agent suffix -er.

jogging

Origin

From "jog" (to move at a slow, steady trot) plus the "-ing" ending.

joggling

Origin

From joggle + -ing.

Johan

Old French

An archaic variant of Joan, from Old French Johan, from Latin Johanna. Cf. John.

Johanna

Latin

From Latin Johanna, variant of Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, Sheena, and Zhanna.

Johannes

Latin

Named after King John V of Portugal ("Johannes" being the Latin form of "John"), whose portrait appeared on the coin.

Johannesburg

Origin

Possibly named after Johannes Rissik or Johannes Meyer, officials involved in its founding.

Johansen

Origin

From North Germanic (Danish Johansen and Norwegian Johansen), patronymic from Johan + -sen.

Johansson

Origin

From Swedish Johansson. Doublet of Johnson.

john

Origin

From the personal name John, which became a generic stand-in for "some man" and later a euphemism for a toilet.

Johnnie

Origin

From John + -ie.

Johnno

Origin

From John + -o.

Johnny

Origin

From the personal name John, used generically as slang for various everyday objects.

Johns

Origin

Variant of John with genitival or excrescent -s or a variant of Jones.

johnson

Origin

Like several other common male names used as slang for the penis (e.g. "peter"), "Johnson" was adopted as a euphemistic nickname.

Johnston

Origin

Formed from the given name John plus "-ton," an old word for a settlement or town — literally "John's town."

JOI

English

An initialism of jerk off instructions.

join

Latin

From Old French joindre, from Latin iungere, "to yoke or connect" — the same root as "junction" and "yoke."

joined

Latin

Past tense of join, from Old French joindre, from Latin iungere 'to yoke together', the root that also gives junction and conjugal.

joiner

Old French

From Old French joigneor, "one who joins," from joindre ("to join") — related to modern "join."

joint

Latin

From Old French joint, "joint of the body," from Latin iunctus, past participle of iungere ("to join").

jointly

Origin

From "joint" plus the adverb-forming ending "-ly."

jointure

Origin

Inherited from Middle English joynture, from Old French jointure, from Latin iūnctūra. Doublet of juncture.

joist

Origin

From Old French giste, feminine of gist, the past participle of gesir (“to lie down”).

jojo

Origin · 1960

Reportedly coined in the early 1960s by an employee of a fryer company demonstrating the machine at a Chicago trade show, after customers started eating the potato slices used to clean the fryer.

joke

Latin

From Latin iocus, "jest or pastime" — the same root that gave French jeu and Italian gioco.

joker

German

From "joke" plus the agent suffix "-er"; the playing-card sense may instead come from the German card game Juckerspiel.