Jesse

plural Jesses

1. biblicalThe son of Obed and the father of king David.

   Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons; and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

   1 Samuel 17:12

2. A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.

   Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man, / He robbed the Glendale train. / He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor, / He'd a hand and a heart and a brain.

   1882, Jesse James (folk song)

   1 more example

   On a Friday morning in April, Fox News talk host Jesse Watters walked onstage to a room stuffed with hundreds of insurance executives and agents. Watters was the featured speaker at a breakfast for the Big “I” Legislative Conference, the signature annual event hosted by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, where he was invited to participate in an interview with the organization’s retiring president, Bob Rusbuldt.

   2023 June 28, Oliver Darcy, “Jesse Watters was invited to speak before a group of executives. His remarks led to an ‘epic meltdown’”, in CNN

3. A female given name, variant of Jessie.

   1 more example

   We had decided to change the spelling of our names. Mine was to become Jesse instead of Jessie, and hers was to be Meribeth, not MaryBeth. We signed these names to the test papers we turned in at school. The teacher waved my paper in the air. "I can't give a mark to this person, because I don't know who this person is," she said. "Who is this Jesse?" She spelled the name out loud. "That is a boy's name. Does anybody here know a boy named Jesse?"

   1985, Alice Munro, The Progress of Love, Chatto&Windus, published 1987, →ISBN

plural Jesses

1. architectureA representation of the genealogy of Christ, in decorative art, such as a genealogical tree in stained glass or a branched candlestick.