bluegrass

Etymology

It is formed from English blue + grass,^[2][3][4] an American coinage,^[4] for grasses named from their bluish flowers or the bluish green colour of their stems.^[2][5] The music is named after the Blue Grass Boys, a country band of the 1940s and 1950s,^[3][6][5][7] who took their name from the Bluegrass State, a nickname of Kentucky,^[5][6] where Kentucky bluegrass is widely grown, although it is not native there.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A grass of the genus Poa with a bluish inflorescence or foliage: 1751, in the journals of C. Gist.^[2][2][5][3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1745–55.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From 1751 the name was also given to bluish grasses and grass-like plants of other genera; in Scotland it was used for sedges, and in Australia and New Zealand for local grasses.^[2][5] The grass gave its name to the region of northern and central Kentucky where it grows, from 1868,^[2][5] and Kentucky has been called the Bluegrass State at least since 1864.^[3] In the 1950s the word was applied to a fast country music played on acoustic stringed instruments such as the banjo, fiddle and mandolin, after the Blue Grass Boys;^[2][5][3] the OED finds it in 1955, Barnhart and Etymonline in 1958.^[2][6][3] The adjective, at first describing the bluegrass country and later the music, dates from 1889.^[2] American drug slang of the 1950s used bluegrass as a verb, to commit an addict to the federal narcotics hospital at Lexington, Kentucky.^[8]

Timeline

• 1751 – a bluish grass of the genus Poa, and bluish grasses of other genera.^[2][5]
• 1864 – Kentucky called the Bluegrass State.^[3]
• 1868 – the bluegrass region of Kentucky.^[2]
• 1889 – adjective, of the bluegrass country.^[2]
• 1953 – drug slang, to commit to the Lexington narcotics hospital.^[8]
• 1955 – a style of country music.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1958.^[6][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of several grasses of the genus Poa with bluish green stems, especially Kentucky bluegrass, grown for pasture and lawns.^[5][9][2]
2. A kind of country music played on unamplified stringed instruments such as the banjo, fiddle and guitar, with a quick tempo and close harmonies.^[5][9][2]
3. the Bluegrass: the region of central Kentucky where the grass grows, known for horse breeding.^[5][2]

Related words

• blue
• grass

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins