Jesse

The word “Jesse” means a decorative artwork, often a stained-glass window or branching candlestick, showing the family tree leading to Christ. In plain terms, an artistic family-tree design, usually in church art, tracing Christ's ancestry back to Jesse, father of King David.

“Jesse” is pronounced JEHS-ee (/ˈd͡ʒɛs.i/ in IPA).

Here is “Jesse” used in a sentence: “The cathedral's west window is a magnificent Jesse tree in stained glass.”

“Jesse” is a noun.

“Jesse” is a fairly common word in modern English.

A Jesse window is a stained-glass window that depicts a jesse: the family tree leading to Christ, usually shown as a branching tree. It is a traditional subject for church glass and one of the most common forms a jesse takes.

A Jesse tree is the motif itself, the genealogy of Christ pictured as a tree. A jesse is an artwork that presents this motif, most often a stained-glass window or a branching candlestick.

It is named after Jesse, the biblical father of King David, who stands at the root of the family tree leading to Christ. The design traditionally shows the tree rising from the figure of Jesse, with Christ's ancestors arranged along its branches.

Besides stained glass, a jesse can be a branching candlestick, and the same family-tree design appears in other kinds of church decoration. Whatever the medium, the defining feature is the depicted line of descent leading to Christ.