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chat

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tʃæt/[1]

Etymology

It is a Middle English shortening of chatter,[2][3][4][5] which is itself imitative of the sound of people talking.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To talk idly, babble”: before 1450 in Barnhart,[2] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[3] Hoad dates “to chatter” to the 14th–15th centuries.[4]

Semantic evolution

“To converse easily and familiarly” is from the 1550s,[3] the 16th century in Hoad.[4] The noun, idle talk or chatter, is from 1530, in the works of Sir Thomas More,[2][7] and familiar conversation from 1573.[7][3] Chatty is from before 1762.[2] Chat up, to flirt with, is from 1898.[3] The British chat show, the American talk show, is from 1967,[3] and the online chat room from 1994.[3]

Timeline

  • a. 1450 – to babble.[2]
  • 1530 – noun, chatter.[2][7]
  • 1550s – to converse familiarly.[3]
  • 1573 – noun, familiar talk.[7]
  • a. 1762 – chatty.[2]
  • 1898 – to chat up.[3]
  • 1967 – chat show.[3]
  • 1994 – chat room.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To talk in a light, easy and informal way.
  2. To exchange messages online in real time.
  3. (British, informal) chat up: to talk flirtatiously to.

Noun

  1. A light, informal conversation.
  2. An online exchange of messages, as in a chat room.

Word family

  • backchat
  • chatterer
  • chatty
  • chitchat
  • chat show
  • fireside chat
  • chatter

Usage notes

Chat is also the name of several birds with chattering calls, from the 1690s, probably imitative of the call,[3][4][5] and in dialect a catkin, from French chatte “female cat”.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)