Origin
The name Jack probably originated as a medieval diminutive of the name John, originally as "Jackin" (earlier Jankin). Alternatively it may be derived from the name Jacques, which is the French form of the name Jacob. There is also a theory that it is Celtic in origin, meaning "Healthy, Strong, Full of Vital Energy" (compare the Welsh word iach, "health"), from a putative Ancient British *Jakkios. Whatever its origin, the name and also the word "jack" were long used as a term to refer to any man, especially of the common classes.
Read more about this topic: Jack (given Name)
Famous quotes containing the word origin:
“Each structure and institution here was so primitive that you could at once refer it to its source; but our buildings commonly suggest neither their origin nor their purpose.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The origin of storms is not in clouds,
our lightning strikes when the earth rises,
spillways free authentic power:
dead John Brown’s body walking from a tunnel
to break the armored and concluded mind.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed,—a, to me, equally mysterious origin for it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)