bebop

Etymology

It is apparently imitative,^[2] echoing a typical phrase of the music:^[3] a staccato two-note figure according to Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary,^[4][5] two quavers according to Chambers,^[6] or the music's rhythm in general according to the Oxford and Collins dictionaries.^[7][8][9] Etymonline takes it from nonsense words of jazz lyrics, such as “bebop”, “rebop” and “bop”, recorded from at least 1928,^[10] and Dictionary.com likewise from the nonsense syllables of scat singing.^[11] Barnhart describes it as imitative of the constantly shifting accents of the music, and notes that the word is said to go back to the 1920s.^[12][13] The short form is bop.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A style of jazz: Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1942,^[4] Barnhart and Etymonline to 1944,^[13][10] and the OED's first record is the title of a gramophone record in Down Beat of 1 August 1945.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED describes the style as a development of jazz that began in the United States at the end of the Second World War, with complex harmony, dissonant chords and highly syncopated rhythm,^[2] and the Oxford Dictionary of English associates it with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie.^[7][10] A player or follower was a bebopper from the mid 20th century.^[3] In American street slang of the 1960s the verb bebop meant to take part in gang fights, after bop "to fight",^[14][15] and later to walk with a cocky swagger, partly as a pun on the jazz style.^[14]

Timeline

• 1942 – a style of jazz.^[4] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1944,^[13][10] the OED to 1945.^[2]
• 1965 – verb, US slang, to fight as a member of a street gang.^[14][15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A style of jazz that arose in the 1940s, marked by complex harmony, dissonant chords and strongly syncopated rhythms; also called bop: a late-night set of classic bebop.^[7][2][4][8]

Verb

1. (US slang) To take part in fights between street gangs.^[14][15]

Word family

• bebopper

Related words

• bop

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
7. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
14. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b c Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge