Ask Difference

Jack vs. Knave — What's the Difference?

By Tayyaba Rehman & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 6, 2024
Jack is a common playing card ranked just above the 10, while a knave historically refers to a male servant or a dishonest man.
Jack vs. Knave — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Jack and Knave

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Key Differences

Jack is typically represented in decks of playing cards and is considered one rank higher than the ten in games like poker and bridge. Whereas knave was used in historical contexts to denote a male servant or a low-ranking attendant at a royal court.
In modern card decks, the term "jack" has replaced "knave" which was originally used in 15th-century England. On the other hand, the word knave, outside of card games, carries a negative connotation, often referring to an untrustworthy or deceitful man.
The jack is often depicted with a man wearing traditional or historical court attire, holding a weapon like a sword or halberd. Conversely, the historical depiction of a knave could vary significantly, generally characterized as less noble or heroic than other courtly figures.
Playing card games predominantly use the term "jack," making it familiar in contemporary settings. Whereas the term knave is now less common and more often found in literary or historical discussions, reflecting its broader historical usage.
In popular culture, jacks are sometimes characters in stories or games, embodying traits of valor or youth. On the other hand, knaves are depicted in tales and folklore as crafty, cunning individuals, reinforcing their association with trickery or deceit.
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Comparison Chart

Definition

A playing card ranked just above the 10 in most card games.
Historically, a male servant or a deceitful man.

Current Usage

Commonly used in card games.
Rarely used, mostly in historical or literary contexts.

Connotation

Neutral, associated with games.
Negative, associated with dishonesty.

Depiction

Wears courtly attire, often with a weapon.
Varies, generally less noble or heroic.

Cultural Presence

Frequently appears in modern stories and games.
Appears in classic literature and folklore.

Compare with Definitions

Jack

A male donkey.
The jack brayed loudly as the sun began to rise.

Knave

A medieval servant of a king.
The knave hurriedly polished the king's shoes.

Jack

A playing card ranking above the ten and below the queen.
He drew a jack of spades from the deck.

Knave

Used in literature to depict a crafty or cunning young man.
In Shakespeare's works, a knave often plays a pivotal role in the plot.

Jack

A device for lifting heavy objects.
We used a hydraulic jack to lift the car for the tire change.

Knave

A chess term, rarely used, referring to the knight.
He moved his knave to protect his king.

Jack

A term used to refer to a man, often generically.
Every man jack of them agreed on the plan.

Knave

A playing card, historically termed as a jack in modern usage.
The knave of hearts has been stolen by the queen in the nursery rhyme.

Jack

An electrical connector.
She plugged the headphone jack into her phone to listen to music.

Knave

A dishonest or unscrupulous man.

Jack

Often Jack(Informal) A man; a fellow.

Knave

(in cards) a jack.

Jack

One who does odd or heavy jobs; a laborer.

Knave

An unprincipled, crafty fellow.

Jack

One who works in a specified manual trade. Often used in combination
A lumberjack.
A steeplejack.

Knave

A male servant.

Jack

Jack A sailor; a tar.

Knave

A man of humble birth.

Jack

Abbr. J(Games) A playing card showing the figure of a servant or soldier and ranking below a queen. Also called knave.

Knave

(Games) See jack.

Jack

Jacks (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game played with a set of small, six-pointed, traditionally metal pieces and a small ball, the object being to pick up the pieces in various combinations.

Knave

(archaic) A boy; especially, a boy servant.

Jack

One of the six-pointed pieces so used.

Knave

(archaic) Any male servant; a menial.

Jack

(Sports) A pin used in some games of bowling.

Knave

A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person.

Jack

A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press.

Knave

(cards) A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or soldier; a jack.

Jack

A wooden wedge for cleaving rock.

Knave

A boy; especially, a boy servant.
O murderous slumber,Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boyThat plays thee music ? Gentle knave, good night.

Jack

A device used for turning a spit.

Knave

Any male servant; a menial.
He's but Fortune's knave,A minister of her will.

Jack

A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.

Knave

A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person; a rogue; a villain.
In defiance of demonstration, knaves will continue to proselyte fools.

Jack

A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.

Knave

A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or soldier; a jack; as, the knave of hearts.

Jack

The male of certain animals, especially the ass.

Knave

A deceitful and unreliable scoundrel

Jack

Any of various food and game fishes of the family Carangidae, found in tropical and temperate seas.

Knave

One of four face cards in a deck bearing a picture of a young prince

Jack

A jackrabbit.

Jack

A socket that accepts a plug at one end and attaches to electric circuitry at the other.

Jack

(Slang) Money.

Jack

Applejack.

Jack

(Slang) A small or worthless amount
You don't know jack about that.

Jack

To hunt or fish for with a jacklight
Hunters illegally jacking deer.

Jack

To move or hoist by using a jack. Often used with up
Jacked the rear of the car to replace the tire.

Jack

To raise (something) to a higher level, as in cost. Often used with up
"Foreign producers jacked up the price on some steels by over 100%" (Forbes).

Jack

(Baseball) To hit (a pitched ball) hard, especially for a home run.

Jack

To steal
Someone jacked my bike.

Jack

To rob or cheat
The dealer jacked me on the price.

Jack

To hunt or fish by using a jacklight.

Jack

To plug into an electronic device by means of a jack.

Jack

A coarse mediaeval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
Jack of mail
Padded jack

Jack

A man.

Jack

A name applied to a hypothetical or typical man.

Jack

A man, a fellow; a typical man; men in general.

Jack

(colloquial) A sailor.

Jack

(slang) A policeman or detective; Australia a military policeman.

Jack

A manual laborer.

Jack

A lumberjack.

Jack

A sepoy.

Jack

A device or utensil.

Jack

A device for turning a spit; a smokejack or roasting jack.

Jack

Each of a series of blocks in a harpsichord or the earlier virginal, communicating the action of the key to the quill; sometime also, a hopper in a modern piano.

Jack

(obsolete) A support for wood being sawn; a sawhorse or sawbuck.

Jack

A device used to hold a boot by the heel, to assist in removing the boot.

Jack

A mechanical device used to raise and (temporarily) support a heavy object, now especially to lift one side of a motor vehicle when (e.g.) changing a tyre.
She used a jack to lift her car and changed the tire.

Jack

Any of various levers for raising or lowering the sinkers which push the loops down on the needles in a knitting machine or stocking frame.

Jack

A wedge for separating rocks rent by blasting.

Jack

(obsolete) A grating device used to separate and guide the threads in a warping machine; a heck box.

Jack

(obsolete) A machine for twisting the sliver as it leaves a carding machine, in the preparation of yarn.

Jack

(electronics) A switch for a jack plug, a jackknife switch; more generally a socket used to connect a device to a circuit, network etc.
Telephone jack

Jack

A non-tool object or thing.

Jack

A pitcher or other vessel for holding liquid, especially alcoholic drink; a black-jack.

Jack

The lowest court card in a deck of standard playing cards, ranking between the 10 and queen, with an image of a knave or pageboy on it.

Jack

(bowls) A small, typically white, ball used as the target ball in bowls; a jack-ball.

Jack

(nautical) A small ship's flag used as a signal or identifying device; a small flag flown at the bow of the vessel.

Jack

A measure of liquid corresponding to a quarter of a pint.

Jack

A fake coin designed to look like a sovereign.

Jack

A jack crosstree.

Jack

(games) A small, six-pointed playing piece used in the game of jacks.

Jack

(US) A torch or other light used in hunting to attract or dazzle game at night.

Jack

Money.

Jack

Nothing, jack shit.
You haven't done jack. Get up and get this room cleaned up right now!

Jack

The eleventh batsman to come to the crease in an innings.

Jack

A smooth often ovoid large gravel or small cobble in a natural water course.

Jack

A plant or animal.

Jack

A pike, especially when young.

Jack

A male ass, especially when kept for breeding.

Jack

Any of the marine fish in the family Carangidae.

Jack

(US) A jackrabbit.

Jack

A large California rockfish, the bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis.

Jack

Mangifera caesia, related to the mango tree.

Jack

(colloquial) Plant in the genus Arisaema, also known as Jack-in-the-pulpit, and capitalized Jack.

Jack

(colloquial) Spadix of a plant (also capitalized Jack).

Jack

(apparently does not occur standalone for the genus per se) Plant of the genus Emex, also considered synonymous to Rumex, if not then containing two species lesser jack and little jack for Emex spinosa syn. Rumex spinosus, Australian English three-corner jack and prickly jack for Emex australis syn. Rumex hypogaeus.

Jack

The edible fruit of the Asian tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus); also the tree itself.

Jack

The related tree Mangifera caesia.

Jack

A home run.

Jack

(transitive) To physically raise using a jack.
He jacked the car so that he could replace the brake pads.

Jack

(transitive) To raise or increase.
If you want to jack your stats you just write off failures as invalid results.

Jack

To increase the potency of an alcoholic beverage similarly to distillation by chilling it to below the freezing point of water, removing the water ice crystals that form, and leaving the still-liquid alcoholic portion.

Jack

To steal (something), typically an automobile; to rob (someone).
Someone jacked my car last night!

Jack

(intransitive) To dance by moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion.

Jack

To jack off, to masturbate.

Jack

To hit (the ball) hard; especially, to hit (the ball) out of the field, producing a home run.

Jack

(AU) Tired, disillusioned; fed up (with).

Jack

A large tree, the Artocarpus integrifolia, common in the East Indies, closely allied to the breadfruit, from which it differs in having its leaves entire. The fruit is of great size, weighing from thirty to forty pounds, and through its soft fibrous matter are scattered the seeds, which are roasted and eaten. The wood is of a yellow color, fine grain, and rather heavy, and is much used in cabinetwork. It is also used for dyeing a brilliant yellow.

Jack

A familiar nickname of, or substitute for, John.
You are John Rugby, and you are Jack Rugby.

Jack

An impertinent or silly fellow; a simpleton; a boor; a clown; also, a servant; a rustic.
Since every Jack became a gentleman,There 's many a gentle person made a Jack.

Jack

A popular colloquial name for a sailor; - called also Jack tar, and Jack afloat.

Jack

A mechanical contrivance, an auxiliary machine, or a subordinate part of a machine, rendering convenient service, and often supplying the place of a boy or attendant who was commonly called Jack

Jack

A portable machine variously constructed, for exerting great pressure, or lifting or moving a heavy body such as an automobile through a small distance. It consists of a lever, screw, rack and pinion, hydraulic press, or any simple combination of mechanical powers, working in a compact pedestal or support and operated by a lever, crank, capstan bar, etc. The name is often given to a jackscrew, which is a kind of jack.

Jack

The small bowl used as a mark in the game of bowls.
Like an uninstructed bowler who thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straight forward upon it.

Jack

The male of certain animals, as of the ass.

Jack

A young pike; a pickerel.

Jack

A drinking measure holding half a pint; also, one holding a quarter of a pint.

Jack

A flag, containing only the union, without the fly, usually hoisted on a jack staff at the bowsprit cap; - called also union jack. The American jack is a small blue flag, with a star for each State.

Jack

The knave of a suit of playing cards.

Jack

A game played with small (metallic, with tetrahedrally oriented spikes) objects (the jacks(1950+), formerly jackstones) that are tossed, caught, picked up, and arranged on a horizontal surface in various patterns; in the modern American game, the movements are accompanied by tossing or bouncing a rubber ball on the horizontal surface supporting the jacks. same as jackstones.

Jack

Money.

Jack

Apple jack.

Jack

Brandy.

Jack

A coarse and cheap mediæval coat of defense, esp. one made of leather.
Their horsemen are with jacks for most part clad.

Jack

A pitcher or can of waxed leather; - called also black jack.

Jack

A small worthless amount;
You don't know jack

Jack

A man who serves as a sailor

Jack

Someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor

Jack

Immense East Indian fruit resembling breadfruit of; its seeds are commonly roasted

Jack

An electrical device consisting of a connector socket designed for the insertion of a plug

Jack

Game equipment consisting of one of several small objects picked up while bouncing a ball in the game of jacks

Jack

Small flag indicating a ship's nationality

Jack

One of four face cards in a deck bearing a picture of a young prince

Jack

Tool for exerting pressure or lifting

Jack

Any of several fast-swimming predacious fishes of tropical to warm-temperate seas

Jack

Male donkey

Jack

Lift with a special device;
Jack up the car so you can change the tire

Jack

Hunt with a jacklight

Common Curiosities

What are the negative connotations of a knave?

A knave commonly refers to someone who is deceitful or dishonest.

Why was the term knave replaced by jack in card games?

The term was replaced to avoid confusion on the card face, as "Kn" was too similar to "K" for king.

Can the term jack refer to anything other than a playing card?

Yes, it can also refer to a lifting device, a male donkey, an electrical connector, or colloquially to any man.

How does the historical role of a knave differ from its card game usage?

Historically, a knave referred to a male servant or a dishonest person, whereas in card games, it is simply another term for the jack.

Is the jack always depicted the same way in card decks?

No, the depiction can vary by cultural context and card design, but it typically features a young man in regal attire.

How do literary works use the character of a knave?

In literature, knaves are typically used to add tension or conflict due to their deceitful nature.

What is a jack in card games?

A jack is a card that typically ranks higher than a 10 and lower than a queen in most card games.

Are there any famous stories involving a knave?

Yes, the "Knave of Hearts" from the nursery rhyme who stole the tarts is a well-known example.

How does the portrayal of jacks in popular culture differ from knaves?

Jacks are often portrayed as heroic or adventurous, while knaves are depicted as sly or deceitful.

What is the relevance of a jack in mechanical tools?

In mechanical contexts, a jack is a tool used for lifting heavy objects, such as cars.

How do modern card games treat the jack and knave terms?

Modern card games primarily use the term jack, with knave being largely obsolete.

Are there any gender-specific roles associated with the terms jack and knave?

Historically, both terms refer to male figures, either as cards or character types.

What role did knaves play in medieval society?

Knaves were often low-ranking servants in royal or noble households.

What is the significance of the jack in naval terms?

A jack can refer to a flag flown to indicate nationality, particularly on naval vessels.

What educational value can learning about jacks and knaves provide?

Understanding these terms can enhance one's knowledge of historical language, literature, and cultural games.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Tayyaba Rehman
Tayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat

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