Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

jakes

/d͡ʒeɪks/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.51 in modern English

Syllables: jakes
IPA: /d͡ʒeɪks/

16

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.

Uncountable

noun

verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of jake

name

Example Sentences

"My lord, if you’ll give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar and daub the walls of a jakes with him."
"[…] Whereas the Truth-finder, having raked out that Jakes his own Mind, and being there capable of tracing no Ray of Divinity, nor any thing virtuous, or good, or lovely, or loving, very fairly, honestly, and logically concludes, that no such things exist in the whole Creation."
"And the treasures of the floor and walls went raw into the jakeses from my brush and dustpan: sludges, geodes, hair, dead insects and arachnidae, a rubber glove and tainted paper waste, a mouse's skull and tail, a set of used plasters, […]"

Etymology

From Middle English Jake (variant of “Jack”) or Jakke (variant of “Jacques” and “Jack”). Use as a place to urinate and defecate first attested in the form jacques. Compare terms such as US slang Cousin John and Quincy, used as euphemistic personifications the speaker was "visiting".

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: Jake
Suffix: Jake

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

jakeses (plural) jacks (alternative) jacques (alternative) jakes's (alternative) jakeses (alternative)

Derived Forms

jakeshouse

Synonyms

outhouse bathroom latrine necessarium toilet toilet room urinal water closet WC cloaca closet jacques

Rhymes With

makes takes breaks mistakes lakes stakes brakes snakes cakes wakes shakes flakes

Questions

How do you pronounce jakes?: The recorded pronunciation is /d͡ʒeɪks/.
What does jakes mean?: A place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.
Where does jakes come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce jakes

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “jakes”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/d͡ʒeɪks/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “jakes”.
Repeat and practice — Say “jakes” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.