jack

A socket for plugging in an audio source. Audio jacks are found on many types of audio equipment and musical instruments that accept external sound sources.

Origin: English. Gender: Jack is traditionally the masculine form of the name and means "God is Gracious." However, both Jack and Jac are considered gender-neutral. Feminine variations, such as Jacklyn and Jacqueline are common.

A socket, receptacle or port. The term is widely used in the telephony and audio/video worlds; for example, the Registered Jack-11 (RJ-11) is the common telephone wall outlet. Microphones plug into phono jacks on amplifiers.

The smaller size found on portable devices is referred to as a minijack, or by its diameter, 3.5mm. It's sometimes called a 1/8-inch jack in the US, though that's an approximation. The larger size of headphone jack you'll find is commonly known as a 1/4 inch (or 6.3mm) jack plug.

Jack was first used of telephony, at least according to the OED's account, in 1891, referring to that special electrical socket Apple is obsolescing. Plugging this socket is a jack plug, or now just jack, attested by 1931. Headphone actually predates both of these, appearing by 1882.

The analog socket used to plug in a headset, earphones or headphones. The 2.5 and 3.5mm jacks have been used on cellphones and smartphones, while stereo and home theater equipment generally have a 6.3mm socket.

(Cockney rhyming slang) On one's own; alone.

archaic. : a boy (as a stableboy) who does menial work.

The face cards were not originally seen as royal. They came from Egypt as the king, deputy, and under deputy. In Europe, this got converted to the king, knight, and knave or valet. Eventually the knight was replaced with the queen, and in England, the knave began to be called the jack.

From Middle English jakke (“a term of familiarity or contempt; guy; a mechanical turnspit; a brass coin”), from the name Jack. The proper name was used in Middle English for "any common fellow," and thereafter extended to various appliances which do the work of common servants (1570s). masc.

The Jack Plug (also called an audio jack, phone plug, stereo plug, mini-jack), is a common audio connector. It is cylindrical in shape with two, three, or four contact points separated by insulating material.

6.35 mm ( 1⁄4 in) plugs are common on home and professional component equipment, while 3.5 mm plugs are nearly universal for portable audio equipment and headphones.