airplay

Etymology

It is a compound from English air + play,^[2][3] from air in its broadcasting sense.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The playing of recorded music on the radio: Merriam-Webster gives 1942 as its first known use,^[5] Etymonline dates the radio sense to 1950,^[2] and the OED's first record is from 1964, in a Maryland newspaper.^[4] The Merriam-Webster Collegiate gives 1966,^[6] and the Random House dictionary 1965–70.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The word grew out of the use of air for the medium through which radio waves pass, and so for broadcasting, recorded from 1922; the verb air, to broadcast, is recorded from 1933.^[4] Airplay was used chiefly of popular recorded music,^[4] and it is also used for the amount of broadcasting a record receives, as when a song gets a lot of airplay.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1942 – the playing of a recording on the radio.^[5] Etymonline dates this to 1950, and the OED to 1964.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The broadcasting of a recording, especially of popular music, by a radio station.^{[5][9][4][10]}
2. The amount of such broadcasting that a record receives: The band's new single is getting plenty of airplay.^[6][8]

Related words

• air
• play

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Allsopp, Richard, ed. (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins