Jack the Ripper
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
An unknown person who committed a series of murders on prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888-89. He gave himself the name, and the mystery surrounding his crimes made it very widely known.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Jack the Ripper” mean?
An unknown person who committed a series of murders on prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888-89. He gave himself the name, and the mystery surrounding his crimes made it very widely known.
Is “Jack the Ripper” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.