jinx

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʒɪŋks/^[1]

Etymology

It is American, perhaps an alteration of jynx “wryneck”,^[2][3][4][5] a bird used in witchcraft and divination,^[3][4][5] from Latin iynx, from Ancient Greek ἶυγξ (îunx).^[2][6][4][5] English had jyng and jynx in the sense “a charm or spell” in the 17th century.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person or thing that brings bad luck (1911).^[7][6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word began as baseball slang: a 1911 magazine described the “jinx” as a peculiar “hoodoo” affecting a man or a whole team.^[4] The verb followed in 1912 (1917 in Merriam-Webster and Barnhart).^[7][4][3][6] In modern use it can also mean to bring about a bad outcome by speaking too confidently of a good one,^[1] and jinx! is a call made when two people say the same thing at once.^[1]

Timeline

• 17th century – jyng, jynx, a charm or spell.^[6][4]
• 1911 – a bringer of bad luck (American baseball slang).^[7][4][6][3]
• 1912 – verb, to bring bad luck to.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person or thing believed to bring bad luck.
2. A spell of bad luck seemingly caused by such a person or thing.

Verb

1. To bring bad luck to.

Related words

• hoodoo

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press