Old English, from Medieval Latin, representing Greek abbreviation of IHSOUS "Jesus," in which the character -H- is the capital of the Greek vowel eta. The Roman form would be I.E.S. Mistaken for a Latin contraction in the Middle Ages, after its Greek origin was forgotten, and sometimes treated as short for Iesus Hominum Salvator "Jesus Savior of Men." Alternative version I.H.C. (terminal -s- often was indicated in later Greek with a character resembling -c- ) is found on vestments from 950 C.E., and may be the source of the H. in slang Jesus H. Christ .

masc. proper name, biblical successor of Moses as leader of the Israelites, from Late Latin Jeshua , Joshua , a transliteration of Hebrew Yehoshua , literally "the Lord is salvation." In the top 10 list of names for boys in the U.S. since 1979. Joshua-tree (1867) is perhaps [OED] so called because its shape compared to pictures of Joshua brandishing a spear (Joshua viii.18).