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Origin and history of Jesus

Jesus

personal name of the Christian Savior, late 12c.; it is the Greek form of Joshua, used variously in translations of the Bible. From Late Latin Iesus (properly pronounced as three syllables), from Greek Iesous, which is an attempt to render into Greek the Aramaic (Semitic) proper name Jeshua (Hebrew Yeshua, Yoshua) "Jah is salvation." This was a common Jewish personal name during the Hellenizing period; it is the later form of Hebrew Yehoshua (see Joshua).

Old English used hælend "savior." The common Middle English form was Jesu/Iesu, from the Old French objective case form, from Latin oblique form Iesu (genitive, dative, ablative, vocative), surviving in some invocations. As an oath, attested from late 14c. For Jesus H. Christ (1924), see I.H.S. First record of Jesus freak is from 1970.

also from late 12c.

Entries linking to Jesus

I.H.S.

Old English, from Medieval Latin, representing Greek abbreviation of IHSOUS "Jesus," in which the character -H- is the capital of the Greek vowel eta. The Roman form would be I.E.S. Mistaken for a Latin contraction in the Middle Ages, after its Greek origin was forgotten, and sometimes treated as short for Iesus Hominum Salvator "Jesus Savior of Men." Alternative version I.H.C. (terminal -s- often was indicated in later Greek with a character resembling -c-) is found on vestments from 950 C.E., and may be the source of the H. in slang Jesus H. Christ.

Joshua

masc. proper name, biblical successor of Moses as leader of the Israelites, from Late Latin Jeshua, Joshua, a transliteration of Hebrew Yehoshua, literally "the Lord is salvation." In the top 10 list of names for boys in the U.S. since 1979. Joshua-tree (1867) is perhaps [OED] so called because its shape compared to pictures of Joshua brandishing a spear (Joshua viii.18).

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Nazarene
c. 1200, "holy man;" early 13c., "a native or resident of Nazareth," childhood home of Jesus, from Late Latin Nazarenus,...As "a follower of Jesus" from late 14c....In Christian use, however, it can be a nickname for Jesus, or refer to an early Jewish Christian sect (1680s in English),...
Jiminy
exclamation of surprise, 1803, colloquial form of Gemini, a disguised oath, perhaps Jesu Domine "Jesus Lord."...Extended form jiminy cricket is attested from 1848, according to OED, and suggests Jesus Christ (compare also Jiminy Christmas...
Christ
"the Anointed," synonymous with and translating to Greek  Hebrew mashiah (see messiah), a title given to Jesus of Nazareth...used with the definite article, but from an early period it was used without it and regarded as part of the proper name of Jesus... The Latin term drove out Old English Hæland "healer, savior," as the preferred descriptive term for Jesus....Christ-child "Jesus as a baby" (1842) translates German Christkind....
Jesse
masc. proper name, biblical father of David and ancestor of Jesus, from Latin, from Greek Iessai, from Hebrew Yishay, of...prophesies of the Old Testament foretelling the coming of Christ; hence Tree of Jesse "decorative image of the genealogy of Jesus...
savior
c. 1300, saveour, "one who delivers or rescues from peril," also a title of Jesus Christ, from Old French sauveour, from...In the New Testament used of both Jesus and God....Middle English also had salvatour "Jesus Christ," also "a rescuer" (c. 1300) from the Latin, and compare saver....
Messiah
c. 1300, Messias, a designation of Jesus as the savior of the world, from Late Latin Messias, from Greek Messias, from Aramaic...Related: Messiahship "the character, state, or office of Jesus Christ as savior of the world" (1620s)....
Christianity
c. 1300, cristente, "Christians as a whole; state of being a Christian; the religion founded by Jesus," from Old French crestienté...
the
definite article, late Old English þe, nominative masculine form of the demonstrative pronoun and adjective. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), þæt (neuter), and probably represents se altered by the th- form which was used in all the masculine oblique cases
pretend
late 14c., pretenden, "to profess, put forward as a statement or assertion, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, spread before, put forward; put forward as an excuse, allege," f
dodge
1560s, "go this way and that in speech or action," a sense now obsolete; from 1680s as "start suddenly aside, shift suddenly," as to evade a blow;" 1704 as "to move to and fro, shift about;" origin and sense evolution obscure. Perhaps it is from or akin to Scottish and Northern E

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