Etymology

jackass

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Today it means: A male donkey. Full definition →

English ass ← Middle English asse ← French Jacques
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jackass · noun, verb1

  1. Biblical Hebrewעָקַב
  2. Biblical Hebrewיַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ)
  3. Ancient GreekἸακώβ (Iakṓb)
  4. Ancient GreekἸάκωβος (Iákōbos)
  5. LatinIācōbusslbor.?
  6. FrenchJacques
  7. Middle EnglishJackin
  8. EnglishJack
  9. Englishjack
  10. Middle Englishasse
  11. Englishass
  12. English todayjackass

From jack + ass.

jackass · noun2

From the phonetic similarity of "jack, ace" to "jackass".

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.