jazz

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A style of music with African American roots, known for improvisation, swing, and strong rhythm.

   She loves listening to jazz on a quiet evening.

2. 2
   noun

   Energy or excitement that makes something lively.

   The new design needs a bit more jazz.

3. 3
   noun

   Other similar things; unspecified extra stuff.

   We talked about jobs, money, and all that jazz.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Jazz appeared in the early 20th century, perhaps first meaning “liveliness, energy, or spirit”; it was used of an unusual baseball pitch in 1912 and first recorded in a musical sense in Chicago in 1915. Its origin remains uncertain and may be African, or it may be related to slang jasm, “energy” or “pep,” derived from jism, a word of unknown origin that later also meant “semen.”

Unknown. First attested around 1912 in a discussion of baseball; attested in reference to music around 1915. Numerous references suggest that the term may be connected to jasm and jism.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary