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Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century Jewish religious preacher and craftsman (commonly understood to have been a carpenter) from Galilee held to be a prophet, teacher, the Son of God, and the Messiah, or Christ, in Christianity; also called "Jesus Christ" by Christians. Held to be a prophet by Muslims and Baháʼís. Also called "the historical Jesus" from a historiographic viewpoint or a secular one.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

name/ˈd͡ʒiːzəs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zəs] ~ [ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zs̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈd͡ʒiːˌzʌs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯ˌzʌs]Received-Pronunciation
  1. Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century Jewish religious preacher and craftsman (commonly understood to have been a carpenter) from Galilee held to be a prophet, teacher, the Son of God, and the Messiah, or Christ, in Christianity; also called "Jesus Christ" by Christians. Held to be a prophet by Muslims and Baháʼís. Also called "the historical Jesus" from a historiographic viewpoint or a secular one.

  2. One of a variety of persons or entities in western Manichaeism, of whom some correspond closely to the Christian conception of Jesus of Nazareth.

    historical
  3. A male given name from Spanish in Spanish culture; an anglicized spelling of Jesús.

  4. A male given name from Aramaic.

    Jesus son of Sirach wrote the "Wisdom of Sirach"
  5. Ellipsis of Jesus College, Cambridge.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · informal
  6. Ellipsis of Jesus College, Oxford.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · informal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English Jhesus, Iesus, from Latin Iēsūs, from Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), from Biblical Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), a contracted form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yəhōšúaʿ, “Joshua”), meaning "the Lord saves". The form יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ) is attested in some of the later books of the Hebrew Bible (Ezra–Nehemiah), and translated as Jeshua or Yeshua in some English editions (the former appearing in the King James Version). The Greek texts make no distinction between Jesus and Joshua, referring to them both as Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). In the Wycliffe Bible (Middle English), the forms used are Jhesus and Jhesu.

noun/ˈd͡ʒiːzəs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zəs] ~ [ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zs̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈd͡ʒiːˌzʌs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯ˌzʌs]Received-Pronunciation
  1. The Christian savior.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English Jhesus, Iesus, from Latin Iēsūs, from Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), from Biblical Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), a contracted form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yəhōšúaʿ, “Joshua”), meaning "the Lord saves". The form יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ) is attested in some of the later books of the Hebrew Bible (Ezra–Nehemiah), and translated as Jeshua or Yeshua in some English editions (the former appearing in the King James Version). The Greek texts make no distinction between Jesus and Joshua, referring to them both as Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). In the Wycliffe Bible (Middle English), the forms used are Jhesus and Jhesu.

intj/ˈd͡ʒiːzəs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zəs] ~ [ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zs̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈd͡ʒiːˌzʌs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯ˌzʌs]Received-Pronunciation
  1. An exclamation, particularly used to express excitement or exasperation.

    offensive · possibly
    Jesus, that was close!
    Jesus… How many people killed here?
Where this word comes from

From Middle English Jhesus, Iesus, from Latin Iēsūs, from Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), from Biblical Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), a contracted form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yəhōšúaʿ, “Joshua”), meaning "the Lord saves". The form יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ) is attested in some of the later books of the Hebrew Bible (Ezra–Nehemiah), and translated as Jeshua or Yeshua in some English editions (the former appearing in the King James Version). The Greek texts make no distinction between Jesus and Joshua, referring to them both as Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). In the Wycliffe Bible (Middle English), the forms used are Jhesus and Jhesu.

verb/ˈd͡ʒiːzəs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zəs] ~ [ˈd͡ʒɪi̯zs̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈd͡ʒiːˌzʌs/Received-Pronunciation[ˈd͡ʒɪi̯ˌzʌs]Received-Pronunciation
  1. To subject to (excessive) Christian proselytizing, preaching, or moralizing.

    colloquial · derogatory · humorous · often · transitive
  2. To exclaim Jesus at someone.

    informal · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English Jhesus, Iesus, from Latin Iēsūs, from Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), from Biblical Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), a contracted form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yəhōšúaʿ, “Joshua”), meaning "the Lord saves". The form יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ) is attested in some of the later books of the Hebrew Bible (Ezra–Nehemiah), and translated as Jeshua or Yeshua in some English editions (the former appearing in the King James Version). The Greek texts make no distinction between Jesus and Joshua, referring to them both as Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). In the Wycliffe Bible (Middle English), the forms used are Jhesus and Jhesu.

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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.