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James.

The twentieth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the general epistle of James.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

name/d͡ʒeɪmz/
  1. The twentieth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the general epistle of James.

    countable · uncountable
  2. One of two Apostles, James the Greater and James the Less, often identified with James, brother of Jesus.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A male given name from Hebrew popular since the Middle Ages. Also a common middle name.

    countable · uncountable
  4. An English surname originating as a patronymic.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A placename An unincorporated community in Jones County, Georgia, United States.

    countable · uncountable
  6. A placename An unincorporated community in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States.

    countable · uncountable
  7. A placename A township in Timiskaming District, north-eastern Ontario, Canada.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A placename Former name of Santiago: an island of Galapagos, Ecuador.

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Where this word comes from

The English New Testament form of Jacob, from Middle English James, from Old French James, from Vulgar Latin Iācōmus, spoken and altered pronunciation of Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Ἰακώβ (Iakṓb), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ, literally “May He Heel”), from the third-person singular masculine imperfective form of the Semitic verb "to heel" (with various meanings), in turn from עָקֵב (ʿāqēḇ, “heel of the foot”). Doublet of Jacques, Jacob, Iago, Jago, Yago, Hamish, Seamus, Tiago, Santiago, and Yaakov. In reference to the Ecuadorian island, a modification of the earlier name Duke of York's Island after its eponymous duke's coronation as James II of England. See Occitan Jacme for an intermediary between Old French James and Catalan Jaume.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.