Word.ws English Dictionary

by Jupiter

by Jupiter interjection: invocation of the Roman god Jupiter.

Interjection

  1. (obsolete, Classics) Invocation of the Roman god Jupiter.
    • I see how it is with you. You are mad, / Stark mad, by Jupiter!1820 [423 BC], “The Clouds”, in Thomas Mitchell, transl., The Comedies of Aristophanes, volume 1, translation of Νεφέλαι Nephelai by Aristophanes, page 91
  2. (British, dated, minced oath) by God.
    • Away! By Jupiter, / This shall not be revoked!c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 1, lines 178–179
    • "By Jupiter!" employing his usual mild expletive, "look here, old fellow, had she a white dress on, and geranium-colored bows, and—"1874 September, Fannie Hodgson Burnett, “Pretty Polly Pemberton”, in Peterson's Magazine, volume 66, number 3, page 180
    Synonyms:
    wow, dammit

Synonyms of by Jupiter

Origin of by Jupiter

From Latin pro Iuppiter. Ellipsis of a full oath of the form "I swear by Jupiter that…". Originally a literal oath; later a minced oath.

Questions about by Jupiter

What does by Jupiter mean?
By Jupiter means invocation of the Roman god Jupiter.
What part of speech is by Jupiter?
By Jupiter is an interjection.

Words near by Jupiter in the dictionary

  1. by jiminy
  2. by jingo
  3. by jings
  4. by Jove
  5. by juckies
  6. by Jupiter
  7. by leaps and starts
  8. by left
  9. by little and little
  10. by long chalks
  11. by means of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: by Jupiter (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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