joseph | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

66 entries found.

masc. proper name, biblical son of Jacob and Rachel, and in the New Testament the name of the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus; from Late Latin Joseph, Josephus, from Greek Ioseph, from Hebrew Yoseph (also Yehoseph; see Psalms lxxxi.6) "adds, increases," causative of yasaph "he added." Its use in names of clothing and plants often is in reference to his "coat of many colors" (Genesis xxxvii.3).

Jose

masc. proper name, from Spanish José, Spanish form of Joseph.

Josephine

fem. proper name, from French Jósephine, fem. of Joseph. Another fem. form in English is Josepha.

Joe

pet-form of Joseph (q.v.). Meaning "generic fellow, man" is from 1846. Used in a wide range of invented names meaning "typical male example of," for example Joe college "typical college man" (1932); Joe Blow "average fellow" is U.S. military slang, first recorded 1941. "Dictionary of American Slang" lists, among other examples, Joe Average, Beige, Lunch Bucket, Public, Sad, Schmoe, Six-pack, Yale, Zilch

Pilates

c. 1980, physical fitness regimen developed c. 1920 by German-born physical fitness teacher Joseph Pilates (1883-1967).

chlorophyll (n.)

green-colored stuff in plants, 1819, from French chlorophyle (1818), coined by French chemists Pierre-Joseph Pelletier (1788-1842) and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou (1795-1877) from chloro-, from Latinized form of Greek khlōros "pale green, greenish-yellow" (from PIE root *ghel- (2) "to shine," with derivatives denoting "green" and "yellow") + phyllon "a leaf" (from suffixed form of PIE root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom").

Jacquard (adj.)

in reference to a type of loom, 1841, from Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) of Lyons, inventor of new weaving technology c. 1800.

egotist (n.)

1714, "one who makes too frequent use of the first-person singular pronoun," see ego + -ist. First attested in Joseph Addison (see egotism). Related: Egotistic; egotistical; egotistically.

saxophone (n.)

type of modern metal musical instrument played through a reeded mouthpiece (originally meant as a more sonorous substitute for the clarinet in military bands), 1851, from French saxophone, named for Antoine Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (1814-1894), Belgian instrument maker who devised it c. 1840, + Greek -phonos "voiced, sounding" (see -phone).

His father, Charles Joseph (1791-1865) invented the less popular saxhorn (1844) in the trumpet family, also meant for military bands. The surname is a spelling variant of Sachs, Sacks, literally "Saxon." Related: Saxophonist.

chromosphere (n.)

"gaseous envelope around the sun," 1868, coined by English astronomer Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), from chromo-, from Greek khrōma "color" (see chroma) + sphere. So called for its redness. Related: Chromospheric.

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