Isaac

IPA/ˈaɪsək/
KK[ˈaɪzək]IPA/ˈaɪzək/

Isaac — noun

1. In the Jewish and Christian Bibles, the child of Abraham and Sarah, and later th

1.nounB1
Definition

In the Jewish and Christian Bibles, the child of Abraham and Sarah, and later the father of Jacob and Esau. In a well-known story, God told Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to test his faith, but then stopped him.

Example

Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain, as the Bible tells.

possessive: Abraham's son Isaac; passive context

Isaac married Rebekah, and their son Jacob became the father of Israel's twelve tribes.

Isaac + past tense main clause; possessive chain

Common collocations
  • binding of Isaac
  • sacrifice of Isaac
  • story of Isaac
  • Isaac's wife
  • Isaac's son

Grammar Patterns

Isaac + singular verb

Usage Note

This is a proper name for a specific person in the Bible. It is often used with the definite article only when referring to a specific story ('the binding of Isaac'). In most contexts, the name stands alone without an article.

Common Mistakes

Isac
Isaac
the spelling has two 'a's and no 's' at the end.
Isaac and Abraham story
the story of Isaac and Abraham
possessive constructions with Biblical names often use 'of' rather than 's.

Word family

  • Isaac's
    noun (possessive)B1

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • binding of Isaac
  • sacrifice of Isaac

Prepositions

Etymology

HebrewGreekLatinEnglish

From Hebrew יִצְחָק (Yitzchaq), meaning 'he will laugh' or 'he laughs.' The name comes from the Bible story where Sarah laughed when told she would give birth to a son in her old age (Genesis 17-18). The name passed into Greek as Ἰσαάκ (Isaak), then into Latin as Isaac, and later into English.