Waar komt het woord “jazz” vandaan? - Marloes Pieksma
Mijlenver van de staat Californië én ver van New Orleans, de geboorteplaats van het muziekgenre. In New Orleans werd pas een jaar later, in 1916 ...
website van etymologen
Op een <anchor>website van etymologen</anchor> (dat zijn mensen die de herkomst van woorden bestuderen), vond ik een mogelijke verklaring. Uit de Oxford English Dictionary is te herleiden dat in 1860 het woord “jasm” werd gebruikt in straattaal en het betekende zoiets als energiek, levendig, pep. Jasm is mogelijk afkomstig van “gism”, dat een aantal jaren daarvoor, in 1842, werd gebruikt in plaats van jasm. Zeker is het overigens niet; er wordt nog onderzoek naar gedaan.
jazz | Etymology of jazz by etymonline
jazz \| Etymology of jazz by etymonline

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# jazz(n.)

by 1912, American English, first attested in baseball slang; as a type of music, attested by 1915. Perhaps ultimately from slang jasm (1860) "energy, vitality, spirit," perhaps especially in a woman. This is perhaps from earlier gism in the same sense (1842).

> By the end of the 1800s, "gism" meant not only "vitality" but also "virility," leading to the word being used as slang for "semen." But — and this is significant — although a similar evolution happened to the word "jazz," which became slang for the act of sex, that did not happen until 1918 at the earliest. That is, the sexual connotation was not part of the origin of the word, but something added later. \[Lewis Porter, "Where Did 'Jazz,' the Word, Come From?"
>  http://wbgo.org Feb. 26, 2018\]

Meaning "rubbish, unnecessary talk or ornamentation" is from 1918. Slang all that jazz "et cetera" first recorded 1939. Further observations from Porter's summation of the research:

> "Jazz" seems to have originated among white Americans, and the earliest printed uses are in California baseball writing, where it means "lively, energetic." (The word still carries this meaning, as in "Let’s jazz this up!") The earliest known usage occurs on April 2, 1912, in an article discovered by researcher George A. Thompson, and sent to me courtesy of \[Professor Gerald \] Cohen.

> ... By 1915, jazz was being applied to a new kind of music in Chicago.  It seems to have been first applied to Tom Brown's all-white band, which hailed from New Orleans. This was followed by many printed references to jazz as a musical style.

also from [1912](/search?sort=a&q=from:1912)

jazz(v.)

"to speed or liven up," 1917, from [jazz](/word/jazz#etymonline_v_1682 "Etymology, meaning and definition of jazz ") (n.). Related: [jazzed](/word/jazzed "Etymology, meaning and definition of jazzed "); jazzing.

also from [1917](/search?sort=a&q=from:1917)

### Entries linking to _jazz_

[jazzed(adj.)](/word/jazzed#etymonline_v_51593 "Origin and meaning of jazzed")

"made more lively or colorful," 1919, past-participle adjective from [jazz](/word/jazz#etymonline_v_42690 "Etymology, meaning and definition of jazz ") (v.).

[Jazz Age](/word/Jazz%20Age#etymonline_v_35185 "Origin and meaning of Jazz Age")

1921; see [jazz](/word/jazz#etymonline_v_1682 "Etymology, meaning and definition of jazz ") (n.); popularized 1922 in writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald; usually regarded as the years between the end of World War I (1918) and the Stock Market crash of 1929.

> We are living in a jazz age of super-accentuated rhythm in all things; in a rhythm that (to "jazz" a word) is super-normal, a rhythm which is the back-flare from the rhythm of a super war. \["Jacobs' Band Monthly," Jan. 1921\]

[Jazz Age](/word/Jazz%20Age "Origin and meaning of Jazz Age") [jazzbo](/word/jazzbo "Origin and meaning of jazzbo") [Jazzercise](/word/Jazzercise "Origin and meaning of Jazzercise") [jazzetry](/word/jazzetry "Origin and meaning of jazzetry") [jazzman](/word/jazzman "Origin and meaning of jazzman") [jazzy](/word/jazzy "Origin and meaning of jazzy") [jism](/word/jism "Origin and meaning of jism") [razzmatazz](/word/razzmatazz "Origin and meaning of razzmatazz") [See all related words (9) >](/word/jazz/related)

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### Trends of _jazz_

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

### More to Explore

[wind\
"air in motion," Old English wind "wind," from Proto-Germanic \*winda- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch wind, Old Norse vindr, Old High German wind, German Wind, Gothic winds), from PIE \*wē-nt-o‑ "blowing," suffixed (participial) form of root \*we- "to bl](/word/wind "Origin and meaning of wind")

[love\
Old English lufu "feeling of love; romantic sexual attraction; affection; friendliness; the love of God; Love as an abstraction or personification," from Proto-Germanic \*lubo (source also of Old High German liubi "joy," German Liebe "love;" Old Norse, Old Frisian, Dutch lof; Germ](/word/love "Origin and meaning of love")

[know\
Old English cnawan (class VII strong verb; past tense cneow, past participle cnawen), "perceive a thing to be identical with another," also "be able to distinguish" generally (tocnawan); "perceive or understand as a fact or truth" (opposed to believe); "know how (to do something)](/word/know "Origin and meaning of know")

[cowbell\
As a musical instrument (without the clapper) by 1919; in that period associated with, and scorned as an absurdity of, jazz...fleeting,    And the man who cannot play, On a cowbell wildly beating,    Calls it "jazz...\[from "The Psalm of Jazz," Oregon Voter, Aug. 30, 1919\] But an article on cowbells in "Hardware" magazine for Dec. 25, 1897...](/word/cowbell "Origin and meaning of cowbell")

[ride\
A ride cymbal (1956) is used by jazz drummers for keeping up continuous rhythm, as opposed to a crash cymbal (ride as "rhythm..." in jazz slang is recorded from 1936)....](/word/ride "Origin and meaning of ride")

[schmaltz\
Schmaltz (cf. the German schmalz, meaning grease) is derogatory term used to straight jazz. \[E.J. Nichols and W.L....Werner, "Hot Jazz Jargon," in Vanity Fair, November 1935\] Also in Jewish-American cookery, in schmaltz herring (by 1914)...](/word/schmaltz "Origin and meaning of schmaltz")

[cool\
use as a general term of approval is from the late 1940s, probably via bop talk and originally in reference to a style of jazz...; the word is said to have been popularized in jazz circles by tenor saxophonist Lester Young (1909-1959)....](/word/cool "Origin and meaning of cool")

[pair\
mid-13c., paire, "a set of two, two of a kind coupled in use," from Old French paire "pair, couple," and directly from Medieval Latin paria "equals," neuter plural of Latin par (genitive paris) "a pair, counterpart, equal," noun use of par (adj.) "equal, equal-sized, well-matched](/word/pair "Origin and meaning of pair")

[couple\
late 13c., "two of the same kind or class connected or considered together," especially "a man and a woman associated together by marriage or love," from Old French cople "married couple, lovers" (12c., Modern French couple), from Latin copula "tie, connection," from PIE \*ko-ap-,](/word/couple "Origin and meaning of couple")

[bop\
1948, shortening of bebop or rebop. The musical movement had its own lingo, which was in vogue in U.S. early 1950s. "Life" magazine \[Sept. 29, 1952\] listed examples of bop talk: crazy "new, wonderful, wildly exciting;" gone (adj.) "the tops—superlative of crazy;" cool (adj.) "tas](/word/bop "Origin and meaning of bop")

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### Dictionary entries near _jazz_

[jay](/word/jay "Origin and meaning of jay") [jay-bird](/word/jay-bird "Origin and meaning of jay-bird") [Jaycee](/word/Jaycee "Origin and meaning of Jaycee") [jayhawker](/word/jayhawker "Origin and meaning of jayhawker") [jaywalking](/word/jaywalking "Origin and meaning of jaywalking")

jazz

[Jazz Age](/word/Jazz%20Age "Origin and meaning of Jazz Age") [jazzbo](/word/jazzbo "Origin and meaning of jazzbo") [jazzed](/word/jazzed "Origin and meaning of jazzed") [Jazzercise](/word/Jazzercise "Origin and meaning of Jazzercise") [jazzetry](/word/jazzetry "Origin and meaning of jazzetry")

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