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Joseph.

Eleventh and favorite son of Jacob, by his wife Rachel.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

name/ˈd͡ʒəʊzɪf/Received-Pronunciation/ˈd͡ʒoʊsəf/US/ˈd͡ʒoʊzəf/US/ˈd͡ʒoʊsɪf/Northeastern, US

  1. Eleventh and favorite son of Jacob, by his wife Rachel.

    countable · uncountable

  2. The husband of Mary, mother of Jesus.

    countable · uncountable

  3. The 12th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

    countable · uncountable

  4. Joseph of Arimathea; man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus.

    countable · uncountable

  5. A male given name from Hebrew.

    countable · uncountable

  6. A surname: An English surname originating as a patronymic.

    countable · uncountable

  7. A surname: A French surname originating as a patronymic.

    countable · uncountable

  8. A locale in the United States: A city in Wallowa County, Oregon; named for Nez Perce chief Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it (called "Chief Joseph" in English).

    countable · uncountable

  9. A locale in the United States: A town in Sevier County, Utah; named for Mormon apostle Joseph Angell Young.

    countable · uncountable

  10. A locale in the United States: A ghost town in Idaho County, Idaho; named for Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it (Chief Joseph).

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Biblical Hebrew הוֹסִיף (hosíf)der. Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵףbor. Middle English Ioseph English Joseph From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. Noun sense 1 (“one whose chastity is above temptation”) is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.

noun/ˈd͡ʒəʊzɪf/Received-Pronunciation/ˈd͡ʒoʊsəf/US/ˈd͡ʒoʊzəf/US/ˈd͡ʒoʊsɪf/Northeastern, US

  1. One whose chastity is above temptation.

  2. A coat or other garment of many colours.

    attributive · humorous · rare · sometimes
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Biblical Hebrew הוֹסִיף (hosíf)der. Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵףbor. Middle English Ioseph English Joseph From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. Noun sense 1 (“one whose chastity is above temptation”) is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.

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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.