jock

Etymology

It is a clipping from English jockstrap,^[2][3][4][5] which in slang also meant an athletic man.^[3][4] Jockstrap is formed from strap and an older slang jock, the male genitals (1790), of unknown origin;^[2][4][5] the OED suggests the older cant word jockum or jockam,^[2][6] and Etymonline one of the colloquial uses of the Scottish name Jock, the northern form of the name Jack.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A jockstrap: 1952, in Bernard Malamud's The Natural.^[2][3] The sense of an athletic man is recorded in 1953 in the Daily Princetonian in the OED,^[2] and in Etymonline and Barnhart in 1963,^[3][4] while Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1922.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Jockstrap itself had come to mean an athletic man in North American slang, in contrast to an intellectual one,^[2][4] and the shortened jock kept this sense, especially for a school or college athlete, often disparagingly.^[2][5][6] From 1961 it was used as the second part of compounds for an enthusiast or expert in a given field,^[2] and it was extended to pilots, especially fighter pilots.^[6][5] In American Black and campus slang jock was also an adjective, athletic or sporty (1969).^[7] The feminine jockette moved from a female disc jockey (1948) to a female jockey (1969) and an athletic woman (1979).^[3]

Timeline

• 1790 – slang, the male genitals.^[2][4]
• 1952 – a jockstrap.^[2][3]
• 1953 – an athletic man, especially at a university.^[2]
• 1961 – in compounds, an enthusiast or expert.^[2]
• 1969 – adjective, athletic, sporty.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An athlete, especially a school or college athlete, as distinguished from an intellectual.^[6][2][8]
2. A jockstrap.^[6][2][8]
3. (in compounds) An enthusiast for, or expert in, a particular activity.^[6][2][5]
4. A pilot, especially a fighter pilot.^[6][5]
5. (coarse slang) The male genitals.^[2][5][7]

Word family

• superjock
• jock itch

Related words

• jockstrap
• jockey

Usage notes

Several other words are spelled jock.^[2][6] Jock, the Scottish form of the name Jack, has been a name for an ordinary man since about 1500, and is a nickname, sometimes offensive, for a Scot, especially a Scottish soldier.^[2][3][6][8] A separate jock, short for jockey, is recorded from 1826 for a jockey and is also used for a disc jockey.^[2][6][8] In Yorkshire and Lancashire jock meant food, especially food taken to work, of unknown origin.^[9][2]

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
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)