Where does “jack o'lantern” come from?
jack o'lantern (English) comes from English Jack, from Middle English jakke, from Anglo-Norman jacke, from Middle French jaque, from Middle French jacques, from French jacques, from Latin Iacobus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος — heel of the foot; heel.
jack o'lantern (English): will o' the wisp, a strange light that attracts...
Definitions
- will o' the wisp, a strange light that attracts...
Ancestry of “jack o'lantern”, step by step
jack o'lantern traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Jack
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Jack | A placeholder or conventional name for any man,... |
| 2 | Middle English | jakke | A padded coat, especially as light armour |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | jacke | — |
| 4 | Middle French | jaque | — |
| 5 | Middle French | jacques | — |
| 6 | French | jacques | plural of jacque; a stupid person; a jemmy or... |
| 7 | Latin | Iacobus | Jacob; James; Saint James |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | Ἰάκωβος | — |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | Ἰακώβ | Jacob |
| 10 | Hebrew | יַעֲקֹב | Jacob |
| 11 | Hebrew | עָקֵב | heel of the foot; heel |
via English o'
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | o' | Contraction of of; Contraction of on |
| 2 | Middle English | O | — |
| 3 | Old English | o | ever, always |
| 4 | Latin | o | The name of the letter "O"; o!; oh! |
| 5 | Etruscan | 𐌏 | — |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ο | Lower-case omicron (ὂ μικρόν), the 15th letter of the ancient Greek alphabet. It represented the close-mid back rounded vowel. It is preceded by ξ and followed by π |
| 7 | Phoenician | 𐤏 | ayin; ʿayin |
| 8 | Egyptian | 𓁹 | — |