Etymologically
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bassist

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 04:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbeɪs.ɪst/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English bass + -ist,[2][3][4][5][6] from the musical noun, not the fish.[3][2] Etymonline notes that the word was used earlier in German.[3] The musical noun comes from the adjective meaning low, from Late Latin bassus (“short, low”), its musical sense influenced by Italian basso.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bass singer: 1824, according to Merriam-Webster.[4][6] The OED first finds the word in 1870, in Wessely's German–English dictionary,[2] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1865–70.[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a player of a bass instrument, especially the double bass, is recorded from 1909, in the supplement to the Century Dictionary.[2][3] By 1958 it was also used for a player of the electric bass guitar,[3] and modern dictionaries define it as a player of either.[7][8][4]

Timeline

  • 1824 – a bass singer.[4] The OED dates the word to 1870.[2]
  • 1909 – a player of a bass instrument, especially the double bass.[2][3]
  • 1958 – a player of the bass guitar.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A musician who plays the double bass or the bass guitar: The bassist tuned up while the drummer set out his cymbals.[7][8][4][2]
  2. A bass singer.[4][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap