burp

Etymology

It is imitative of the sound of belching,^[2][3][4][5] and originated in American English.^[6][7][5] Partridge called it "purely and excellently echoic".^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To belch, and a belch: both in 1932, in a list of Johns Hopkins student slang in the journal American Speech.^[2][9][7][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the noun to 1929 and the verb to about 1932.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense, to make a baby bring up wind, is recorded from 1940.^[2][7] By 1936 Mencken listed to burp among the new American verbs.^[9] The noun is also used in extended and figurative senses,^[2] and in American army slang of 1945 a burp gun was an automatic pistol.^[2][7][10] In Australia it has also been a euphemism for vomit.^[11]

Timeline

• 1932 – to belch; a belch.^[2][9][6]
• 1940 – to make a baby belch.^[2][7]
• 1945 – burp gun, in army slang.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A belch.^[4][3][2]

Verb

1. To belch: The puppy burped loudly after its dinner.^[4][3][2]
2. To help a baby bring up wind from the stomach, as by patting its back.^[4][3][2]

Word family

• burpless
• burpy

Related words

• burp gun
• belch

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge