Iago

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The scheming villain of Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, who manipulates others into destroying one another ; a masculine given name of Spanish origin, the equivalent of James
2. The treacherous ensign who poisons Othello's mind in Shakespeare's play ; a traditional Spanish first name for boys, corresponding to the English James
3. A deceitful character in Shakespeare's Othello who schemes against the Moor ; a Spanish boys' name derived from the same root as the name James

Etymology: Iago is the name of Shakespeare's treacherous ensign in "Othello," but the name itself comes from Hebrew, and it is the Hebrew for "supplanter." The Hebrew word "aqev" means "heel," and it lies behind the name Jacob, whose birth in Genesis is described as his grabbing his twin brother Esau's heel. That story gave the name its sense of one who trips up or displaces another, and the Spanish and Portuguese form "Iago" (the Hebrew name passed into the Iberian languages) carried that meaning with it. Shakespeare's villain thus bears a name that is essentially a Biblical pun on cunning and deception. Because the name was common in Spain and Portugal, and Shakespeare borrowed the Spanish form for his character, audiences of his day would have heard the name without thinking of its origin in a word for "heel."