jack of all trades
see also: Jack of all trades, Jack of all Trades
1610s, from sense Jack ("man (generic term)").

First attested in Essayes and characters of a prison and prisoners, by Geffray Minshull, published 1618 (written 1612), p. 50 ↗, as Jack-of-all-trades.

Noun

jack of all trades

  1. (idiomatic) One competent in many endeavors, especially one who excels in none of them.
    • 1618, Geffray Minshull, Essayes and characters of a prison and prisoners, p. 50 ↗:
      Now for the most part your porter is either some broken cittizen, who hath plaid Jack-of-all-trades, some pander, broker, or hangman, that hath plaid the knaue with all men, and for the more certainty his embleme is a red beard, to which facke hath made his nose cousin german.
    • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. 25:
      "I am my own engineer, and my own carpenter, and my own plumber, and my own gardener, and my own Jack of all Trades," said Wemmick.
    • 1912, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Where There's A Will, Ch. 5:
      A fellow can always get some sort of a job—I was coming up here to see if they needed an extra clerk or a waiter, or chauffeur, or anything that meant a roof and something to eat—but I suppose they don't need a jack-of-all-trades.
Synonyms Translations
Jack of all trades
Noun

jack of all trades

  1. Alternative spelling of jack of all trades

Jack of all Trades
Noun

jack of all trades

  1. Alternative spelling of jack of all trades



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