Jacobean

American  

[jak-uh-bee-uhn] / ˌdʒæk əˈbi ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to James I of England or to his period.

2. noting or pertaining to the style of architecture and furnishings prevailing in England in the first half of the 17th century, continuing the Elizabethan style with a gradual introduction of Italian models in architecture and increased elaboration of forms and motifs in furnishings.

3. of or relating to the style of literature and drama produced during the early 17th century.

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noun

1. a writer, statesman, or other personage of the Jacobean period.

Jacobean British  

/ ˌdʒækəˈbɪən /

adjective

1. history characteristic of or relating to James I of England or to the period of his rule (1603–25)

2. of or relating to the style of furniture current at this time, characterized by the use of dark brown carved oak

3. denoting, relating to, or having the style of architecture used in England during this period, characterized by a combination of late Gothic and Palladian motifs

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noun

1. any writer or other person who lived in the reign of James I

Other Word Forms

• anti-Jacobean adjective
• pro-Jacobean adjective
• quasi-Jacobean adjective

Etymology

Origin of Jacobean

First recorded in 1750–60; from New Latin Jacobae(us) “of Jacobus ” (Latinized form of James ) + -an

Example Sentences

The instrumental consort—three viols, two violins, harpsichord and lute/theorbo—offered an invigorating collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean hits by such contemporaneous composers as William Brade, William Lawes, John Dowland and Anthony Holborne.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

He got into the Old Vic, where he was trained in Jacobean Shakespeare.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2025

Gail's father, Freddie Pearson, knew an associate of Beatles manager Brian Epstein and had offered up the family's Jacobean manor house, where he had opened a private members' club the previous year.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2023

Anne schemes for her family to surmount Jacobean society’s rigid gradations of rank and status.

From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2021

The book fair accelerated the growth of an international trade in books, what the Jacobean poet Samuel Daniel called ‘the intertraffique of the mind.’

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton