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Jove is another name for "Jupiter," the Roman god, so people in Roman times would swear by him. This has carried forward to current times, especially in England. "By God!" was a strong oath promising (usually) to accomplish or complete some action or prevent something, but it was considered too blasphemous to say in "polite company" (especially during times when the (Roman Catholic) church (or Anglican - Church of England) was strong.
Polite company was generally the upper classes. Only upper class children received much formal education, but that almost always included some Latin and Greek. Indeed, much of history was studied in the original languages in which contemporary accounts of Rome and Greece were written. So being aware of the Roman gods the "polite" form of "By Jove" was substituted for the blaspheming oath of "By God". Since the reference was to the discredited notion of Jupiter as a god, it was not blaspheming of the name of the Christian God worshiped in the religion of Britain at the time.
The use of "by Jove" has declined, especially in the last (20th) century, and now, though rarely used, is often an expression of surprise or delight rather than a more formal "oath". In Shakespeare's time the "oath" "By Jove" was still considered a direct enough (though indirect) reference to "God" that it was actually considered a curse (aka, swearing, blaspheming).
All of the above except 'Jove' is a shortened version of Jehova, not Jupiter
"Jove" is the ablative of "Jupiter" (JusPater) hence already means by "Jupiter": "By Jove" is a tautology.
+++ Middle English, from Archaic Latin Iovis or from Latin Iov-, stem of Iuppiter; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published byHoughton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Jove [dʒəʊv]
n1. (Myth & Legend / Classical Myth & Legend) another name for Jupiter1
by Jove an exclamation of surprise or excitement [from Old Latin Jovis Jupiter]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
Equivalent expressions are found in other languages, too.
For example , Jove also appears in the Cornish language as "Yow". However, the 'polite society' explanation is not applicable here. Cornish society has always been more egalitarian than that of the neighbouring English, and at the same time the Cornish less inhibited in calling on deities in oaths. This they share with the other Celtic peoples, and very similar practice prevails within the Romance languages.
"By Jove!" in Cornish is "Re Yow!" or "Abarth Yow!" (abarth being "a" = of, and "parth" = part - meaning approximately 'in the name of, for the sake of'. The "p" in "parth" undergoes softening (lenition) to "b" after "a" = "of").
Also English "Thursday" (i.e. Thor's day, the day of the god Thor) is in Cornish "Dy' Yow" ( "dydh" = day "Yow"= Jove , so "day (of) Jove", "Jove's day".) The Cornish days of the week and months of the year are from a mixture of Celtic and Romance sources, compared with Teutonic and Romance sources in English.
OK! Enough already. I stand corrected.
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What does the expression By Jove mean?
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What is the meaning of idiomatic expression by jove?
This is not an idiom. Jove is the same as Jupiter, who is Zeus. He was the head God in Greek and Roman mythology. "By Jove" is an oath -- you're swearing to something on the name of the God.
