Dictionary

jacktar en · NOUN

Etymology

From jack (“common man or sailor”) + tar (“tarpaulin”), used for a common sailor dating back to the 1600s.

Meanings

1. (UK) A sailor; especially, one in the Royal Navy.
   • Wreaths of blue smoke curled gracefully from above the pipes of our loungers, who, gradually growing tired of chaffing each other, or of vainly wooing the drowsy god, fell into the ever-pleasant frontier habit of spinning yarns, an art in which the borderer rivals any gallant Jack Tar who ever trod a forecastle. 1884, John Gregory Bourke, The snake-dance of the Moquis of Arizona:
   • I am a jolly Jack Tar, / My star, / And you are the fairest, / The richest and rarest / Of innocent lasses you are, / By far 1887, “Ruddigore”, W. S. Gilbert (lyrics), Arthur Sullivan (music), Act II:
   • O! the next that steps up is a jolly Jack tar, / He sailed with Lord [Nelson]^([sic]), during last war: / He’s right on the sea, Old England to view: / He’s come a pace-egging with so jolly a crew. 1857, “The Masker's Song”, in Robert Bell, editor, Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England:

Forms

Synonyms

tar · jack

wikidata: Q45199