Jacksons

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The members of the Jackson family, a surname shared by many people, including a famous American musical group ; a slang term for twenty-dollar bills that carry Andrew Jackson's portrait
2. People who belong to a family bearing the surname Jackson ; informal slang for the twenty-dollar bills printed with an image of Andrew Jackson
3. A family name borne by a well-known group of relatives in music and public life ; a colloquial nickname for the twenty-dollar notes featuring President Andrew Jackson

Etymology: "Jacksons" is the plural of "Jackson," a surname formed in English from "Jack" plus the suffix "-son," meaning "son of." "Jack" is a familiar form of "John," which came into English through Old French "Jacques" and ultimately from Late Latin "Iacobus," the Latin form of the Greek "Iakōbos," itself a rendering of the Hebrew "Yaʿăqōḇ" (Jacob). "Jack" was already a popular given name in Middle English, so a child named Jack could acquire the surname "Jackson" by being identified as Jack's son. The suffix "-son" is an inherited Germanic element, descended from a Proto-Germanic word for "son" with roots reaching back to Proto-Indo-European. In Old English "sunu" meant "son," and by Middle English the form "-son" was being attached to personal names to show descent. Thousands of English surnames were built this way, including Johnson, Robinson and Thompson, so "Jackson" belongs to a large family of patronymics.