James
/d͡ʒeɪmz/
James proper noun: the twentieth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the general epistle of James.
Proper noun
James (countable and uncountable, plural Jameses)
- The twentieth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the general epistle of James.
- One of two Apostles, James the Greater and James the Less, often identified with James, brother of Jesus.
- Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:1–3
- A male given name from Hebrew popular since the Middle Ages. Also a common middle name.
- […] And Normans call me James Fitz-James. / Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, / Thus learn to right the injured cause. […]1810, Walter Scott, “Canto VI. The Guard-room.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and...
- Heaven only knows why a man with a strong biblical name like James wants to be a president named Jimmy.1979 Charles Kuralt, Dateline America, Harcourt Brace Jovanocich, page 184
- An English surname originating as a patronymic.
- An unincorporated community in Jones County, Georgia, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States.
- A township in Timiskaming District, north-eastern Ontario, Canada.
- Former name of Santiago: an island of Galapagos, Ecuador.
James meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
James in Hindi
- book of the Bible
- याक़ूब yāqūb
- one of two Apostles
- याक़ूब yāqūb
- male given name (the standard form)
- जेम्स jems
James in Tamil
- book of the Bible
- யாக்கோபு yākkōpu
James in Marathi
- book of the Bible
- याकोब yākob
- male given name (the standard form)
- जेम्स jemsa
James in Bengali
- জেমস
More languagesFewer languages
- James in Telugu
- యాకోబు yākōbu
- James in Malayalam
- യാക്കോബ് yākkōbŭ
- James in Kannada
- ಯಾಕೋಬನು yākōbanu
- James in Punjabi
- ਯਾਕੂਬ yākūb
- James in Odia
- ଯାକୁବଙ୍କ ପତ୍ର jākubaṅka patra
- James in Sanskrit
- जेम्स jemsa
- James in Nepali
- याकूब yākūb
- James in Tagalog
- Santiago, Jaime
- James in Arabic
- يَعْقُوب yaʕqūb, جَايْمْز jaymz, جَيْمْس jayms
- James in Malay
- Yakobus, Yakub, Yaacob
- James in Indonesian
- Yakobus
- James in Persian
- جیمز jeymz
- James in Thai
- ยากอบ
- James in Vietnamese
- Giacôbê, Giacơ
- James in Myanmar
- ရှင်ယာကုပ်ဩဝါဒစာ hrang-yakupau:wada.ca
Forms of James
| plural | Jameses |
|---|
Origin of James
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.
Words formed from James
- Court of St. James's
- Deeping St James
- Great Saint James
- JaDine
- Jamesburg
- jamescameroni
- James City
- James Creek
- Jamesean
- Jamesian
- James Island
- jamesite
- James-Stein estimator
- Jamester
- Jamestown
- Jamesville
- Jily
- King James
- KJV
- Little Saint James
- Pristimantis jamescameroni
- Saint-James
- Saint James
- Saint James Windward
- St. James
- St.-James
- St-James
- St James
- St. James City
- St James's
- Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome
- Swyer-James syndrome
Phrases with James
Words that rhyme with James
6 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about James
- What does James mean?
- James means the twentieth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the general epistle of James.
- What is James in Hindi?
- James in Hindi is याक़ूब (yāqūb), जेम्स (jems). See James meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is James?
- James is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce James?
- James is pronounced /d͡ʒeɪmz/.
Words near James in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: James (page history and authors); James (Bengali Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-James.wav.
Cite this entry: “James.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/james. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.