jakes
/d͡ʒeɪks/noun, verb
jakes is spelled J-A-K-E-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,337th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jakes means “A place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jakes is jakeses.
How many letters and syllables are in jakes?
| Letters | 5: J-A-K-E-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 52,337th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is jakes?
Jakes appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,337th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jakes?
- /d͡ʒeɪks/
Jakes has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jakes.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with jakes
Also written: jacks.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of jakes
- jakeses plural
- jacks
- jacques
- jakes's
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jakes mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
IrelandA place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.
- 2
plural of jake
verb
- 1
third-person singular simple present indicative of jake
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does jakes come from?
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".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).