First used by William Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice in the early 17th century, probably from Hebrewיִסְכָּה(yiská, “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe version”), a proper name meaning "he will see/behold/look for", the 3ms imperfect form of a verb ultimately from the root ס־כ־ה (s-k-h),[1] itself an alternative form of the root שׂ־כ־ה(ś-k-h), both of which mean "to see, behold, look for".[2]
By folk etymology seen as an elaborate form of Jessie, from Jane.
Pronunciation
[edit]
enPR: jĕsʹĭkə, IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛsɪkə/
Audio (Southern England):
(file)
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessica (plural Jessicas)
A female given name from Hebrew.
c.1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:Lorenzo: In such a night / Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, / And with an unthrift love did run from Venice, / As far as Belmont.
1996, Tad Williams, The Writer's Child, The Sandman Book of Dreams, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 154:She will be beautiful, of course - how could our child not be beautiful? We will name her...Jessica. Yes, that's a good name, not one of those lighter-than-air names so popular among writers of romances and fairy tales. That's a name a real little girl might have.
2015, Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:Jessica. It was, she later thought, a name well suited to whitehaired ladies with bright blue eyes.
2016 August 31, “GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Mark Watney”, in Industrial Scripts[3]:The first line of dialogue is from an off-screen Field Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), asking the team to stay in sight and “make NASA proud”.
Usage notes
[edit]
Formerly rare, but from the 1970s to the 2010s popular in all English-speaking countries.
Derived terms
[edit] diminutives
Jes
Jess
Jessa
Jesse
Jessey
Jessi
Jessie
Jessy
Translations
[edit] a female given name
Arabic: جِيسِيكَاf(jesikā)
Chinese: Mandarin: 傑西卡 / 杰西卡 (zh)(Jiéxīkǎ)
Danish: Jessica
Esperanto: Jiska
Finnish: Jessika (fi)
French: Jessica (fr)
German: Jessica (de), Jessika
Greek: Ιεσική(Iesikí) Ancient Greek: Ἰεσχά(Ieskhá)
^ Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 445
^ Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English[2], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 656
Cebuano
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]
From EnglishJessica.
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessica
a female given name
2017 — Bongosia, Elvira, Mga Bag-ong Opisyal sa AUDIO-Bohol, Nanumpa sa Katungdanan (22 December), Cebuano News, Philippine Information Agency Samtang napili si Mylene Bulasa (BOTr) isip Treasurer; Jessica Wise (LGU Tubigon) isip Assistant Treasurer; Charluth Garcia (LGU San Miguel) isip Auditor; Fiel Angeli Gabin (Tagbilaran City) isip Press Relations Officer sa 1st District; Larry Evangelista (LGU Ubay) isip PRO sa 2nd District; ug Charlie Bonifacio (LGU Anda) isip PRO sa 3rd District.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
2018 September 18, Logroño, Guam P, “Gimingaw og Sex, Nanion”, in SuperBalita Cebu:Si Bert (di tinuod nga ngan), 35, gipusasan sa mga sakop sa Talisay City Police Station human mi-reklamo[sic] ang iyang asawa nga si Jessica, nagtrabaho sa usa ka salon sa dakbayan sa Sugbo.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
2019 — Marcial-Flores, Divine, Kasabotan sa Panagbuwag sa Magtiayon dili Balido (06 January), Legal Corner, Banat News Daghang salamat.— Jessica(please add an English translation of this quotation)
Danish
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]
Recently borrowed from EnglishJessica.
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessica
a female given name
French
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]
Borrowed from EnglishJessica, popular at the end of the 20th century.
Pronunciation
[edit]
IPA(key): /ʒɛ.si.ka/ ~ /ʒe.si.ka/
Audio (France (Toulouse)):
(file)
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessicaf
a female given name
German
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]
Borrowed from EnglishJessica, popular at the end of the 20th century.
Pronunciation
[edit]
Audio (Germany (Berlin)):
(file)
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessica
a female given name
Polish
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]
Unadapted borrowing from EnglishJessica.
Pronunciation
[edit]
IPA(key): /d͡ʐɛˈsi.ka/
Audio:
(file)
Rhymes: -ika
Syllabification: Je‧ssi‧ca
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessicaf
alternative spelling of Dżesika
Declension
[edit] Declension of Jessica
singular
plural
nominative
Jessica
Jessiki
genitive
Jessiki
Jessic
dative
Jessice
Jessicom
accusative
Jessicę
Jessiki
instrumental
Jessicą
Jessicami
locative
Jessice
Jessicach
vocative
Jessico
Jessiki
Further reading
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Jessica in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Spanish
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Etymology
[edit]
Unadapted borrowing from EnglishJessica.
Pronunciation
[edit]
IPA(key): /ˈʝesika/[ˈɟ͡ʝe.si.ka]
IPA(key): /ˈʝesika/[ˈɟ͡ʝe.si.ka](everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay)
IPA(key): /ˈʃesika/[ˈʃe.si.ka](Buenos Aires and environs)
IPA(key): /ˈʒesika/[ˈʒe.si.ka](elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)
Rhymes: -esika
Syllabification: Jes‧si‧ca
Proper noun
[edit]
Jessicaf
a female given name
Swedish
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]
Jessika
Etymology
[edit]
Borrowed from EnglishJessica, popular at the end of the 20th century.
