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jerky

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Etymology and origin of the English word jerky

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈd͡ʒɜːki/[1]
  • US: /ˈd͡ʒɝki/[1]

jerky1 abrupt, jolting

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1670 J. Covel, Diary
Ultimate origin
English jerk,-y
Etymology tree of jerky1
inherited borrowed derived
English jerk
English jerky

Etymology

The adjective is formed from English jerk + -y,[2][3][4][5] from the noun jerk, a sudden sharp pull or movement.[2][3] The noun comes from the verb jerk, recorded from the 16th century and of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of physical motion, moving in jerks, with abrupt stops and starts: 1670, in John Covel's diary of a voyage to the Levant.[2][5] Etymonline gives 1819, in medical writing of the pulse.[3]

Semantic evolution

A figurative use for anything that does not flow smoothly, such as a disjointed prose style, is recorded from 1828.[2][5] In the 20th century the adjective also took the slang sense of the noun jerk, a contemptible or foolish person: in North American colloquial use jerky means foolish or obnoxious, first recorded in 1944 in Woody Guthrie.[2][5] As a noun jerky was a northern English dialect name for the common tern (1829), from its jerky flight, and in the American West a springless stagecoach with a jolting ride (1867).[2][5]

Timeline

  • 1670 – moving in jerks, with sudden starts and stops.[2][5] Etymonline dates it to 1819, of the pulse.[3]
  • 1828 – figurative, disjointed, not flowing smoothly.[2]
  • 1867 – noun, a springless stagecoach in the American West.[2]
  • 1944 – foolish, obnoxious, like a jerk.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Moving in sudden jolts or fits and starts: a jerky ride over the cobbles.[5][2][4]
  2. Not flowing smoothly; disjointed, with abrupt transitions.[5][2]
  3. (North America, informal) Foolish or obnoxious, like a jerk.[5][2]

Noun

  1. (historical) A horse-drawn wagon or stagecoach without springs.[5][2]

Word family

  • jerkily
  • jerkiness
  • herky-jerky

jerky2 dried meat

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1848 W. Colton, Three Years in California
Borrowed from
Spanish charqui
Ultimate origin
Quechua ch'arki

Etymology

The dried meat is borrowed from Spanish charqui (“jerked meat”), also charque, a word of the Spanish of South America,[2][3][6] altered in English after the verb jerk2, to cure meat in strips, and the adjective jerked.[2][7] The Spanish word is from Quechua ch'arki (“dried meat”).[2][3][7][5] The OED notes that Spanish explorers took the word from the Andes to other parts of South and Central America, where dried meat was a staple.[2] English also borrowed the Spanish form as charqui (1688).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Meat, especially beef, cured by being cut into long thin strips and dried: 1848, in Walter Colton's Californian diary.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1850.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning.[2][5] It is often used with the name of the meat, as in beef jerky.[2] The Shorter Oxford labels it North American.[4]

Timeline

  • 1848 – meat cut into strips and dried.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1850.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Meat, especially beef, that has been cut into long thin strips and dried, often after salting or marinating: a bag of venison jerky.[5][2][4]

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 q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Jerky.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/jerky. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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