Jacobite
/ˈdʒeɪ.kə.baɪt/noun
A supporter of the deposed Stuart kings of England and Scotland, especially after 1688.
Did you know?The word comes from Latinized biblical Jacobus, the source of James, so Jacobite literally means a follower of 'James' — not a mystical order, but a dynastic cause that became legendary.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Heb
Yaʿaqōb
“Jacob, the patriarch's name, traditionally linked to the heel-grabber story in Genesis”
Greek
Gk
Iakōbos
“A Greek form of Jacob, used in the Septuagint and early Christianity”
Latin
Lat
Iacobus
“Jacob; also the source form behind the name James in medieval Europe”
Late 17th Century
English
Jacobite
“A supporter of James II and his descendants after the Glorious Revolution”
Modern English
Eng
Jacobite
“Historically, a partisan of the exiled Stuart claim to the British throne”