bungee

Etymology

The origin of the word is unknown.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It was first slang for india-rubber or a rubber eraser, though why is not known;^[7][2][8] Etymonline places that schoolboy use in late 19th-century Britain and thinks it probably more or less imitative, suggesting something bouncy and spongy.^[9] It is also spelled “bungie” and “bungy”.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OED's first record, from 1915, is a nickname for a physical-training instructor in the Royal Navy; the sense "india-rubber, a rubber" follows in 1928.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the rubber eraser the word passed in the 1930s to an elasticated cord used to launch a glider,^[7][2][5] recorded from 1938, and to spring or elastic devices in the control system of an aircraft;^[2][3] Etymonline dates the elastic rope to 1930.^[9] By the 1960s a bungee or bungee cord was a rubber strap with a hook at each end for securing baggage, recorded in 1962 in John Glenn's account of spaceflight.^[7][2] A similar cord made possible the sport of bungee jumping, recorded from 1979,^[7][2][3][9] which in turn gave a verb bungee, to make such a jump (1988).^[2] In American campus slang of 1990–91, bungee meant "very".^[10]

Timeline

• 1915 – a nickname for a naval physical-training instructor.^[2]
• 1928 – india-rubber; a rubber eraser.^[2]
• 1938 – an elastic cord for launching a glider; a spring device in an aircraft's controls.^[2] Etymonline dates the elastic rope to 1930.^[9]
• 1962 – a rubber strap with hooks for securing baggage; later, the cord of a bungee jumper.^[2]
• 1979 – bungee jumping.^[2][3]
• 1988 – verb, to bungee-jump.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stretchy cord of elastic strands, usually in a fabric casing, often with a hook at each end, used to fasten or hold loads: She strapped the tent to the bike rack with a bungee.^[11][4][2]
2. The elastic rope attached to a person who makes a bungee jump.^[2][11]
3. An elastic cord or spring device in an aircraft's controls, or one used to launch a glider or absorb shock.^[3][8][2]
4. (slang) India-rubber; a rubber eraser.^[4][8][2]

Verb

1. To make a bungee jump.^[2]

Word family

• bungee jump
• bungee jumping
• bungee cord

References

1. ^ 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 q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
9. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins