Jacob

American  

[jey-kuhb, zha-kawb] / ˈdʒeɪ kəb, ʒaˈkɔb /

noun

1. (in the Bible) the second son of Isaac, the twin brother of Esau, and father of the 12 patriarchs.

2. François 1920–2013, French geneticist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1965.

3. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “supplanter.”

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Jacob British  

/ ˈdʒeɪkəb /

noun

1. Old Testament the son of Isaac, twin brother of Esau, and father of the twelve patriarchs of Israel

2. Also called: Jacob sheep.  any of an ancient breed of sheep having a fleece with dark brown patches and two or four horns

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Jacob Scientific  

/ zhä-kôb′ /

1. French geneticist who studied how genes control cellular activity by directing the synthesis of proteins. With Jacques Monod, he theorized that there are genes that regulate the activity of other, neighboring genes. They also proposed the existence of messenger RNA.

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Etymology

Origin of Jacob

sense 2 in allusion to Genesis 30:40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Jacob

His remarks follow claims posted on social media by former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that AI developers believe the technology "could kill us all by the end of the decade".

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

The researcher, Jacob Coxon, said in a social media post: “People building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Before seeing “The Dog Stars,” which also came out this summer and stars Jacob Elordi and another pooch, I looked into what happens to its canine star.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Friend of Slate Jacob Charles, law professor at Pepperdine University, argues the justices should simply stay out of this dispute and respect states’ rights to rule themselves.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

“Don’t fret. Jacob here will take good care of him. August, go get this little girl some breakfast, will you? We have to hit the road.”

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen