jump

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʒʌmp/^[1]

Etymology

It has no apparent source in Old or Middle English^[2] and is probably imitative of the sound of feet coming to the ground,^[2][3][4] like bump and thump.^[5][4] Another theory derives it from Gallo-Romance dialects of south-western France, such as jumba “to rock, balance, swing” and yumpa “to rock”, picked up during the English occupation of that region;^[2][6] Barnhart compares Sardinian iumpare “to jump”.^[6] Merriam-Webster compares Swedish gumpa and Low German gumpen “to jump”,^[7] but the OED finds no basis for a relationship.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a spring from the ground: 1520s in Etymonline,^[2] 1530 in Merriam-Webster.^[7] Barnhart has jumpen before 1460, probably meaning “to walk quickly or jump”,^[6] and the New Oxford gives the first sense as “to be moved or thrown with a sudden jerk”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It has superseded native leap, bound and spring in most senses.^[2] “To pass abruptly from one state to another” is from the 1570s,^[2] and “to have sex with” from the 1630s.^[2] To jump to a conclusion is from 1704,^[2] “to attack, pounce upon” from 1789,^[2] to jump rope from 1853 and to jump to, “to obey readily”, from 1886.^[2] The noun, an act of jumping, is from the 1550s,^[2][6] a sudden rise from the 1650s,^[2] a parachute descent from 1922,^[2][8] and jazz with a strong beat from 1937, in Count Basie's “One O'Clock Jump”.^[2][8] The jumpsuit (1948) was modelled on paratroopers' outfits,^[2][4] and to jump the gun, from a runner starting before the gun, is mid-20th-century.^[4] To get the jump on is from 1910.^[2]

Timeline

• 1520s – to spring from the ground.^[2]
• 1550s – noun, a leap.^[2]
• 1570s – to pass abruptly.^[2]
• 1704 – to jump to a conclusion.^[2]
• 1789 – to attack.^[2]
• 1910 – to get the jump on.^[2]
• 1922 – a parachute descent.^[2][8]
• 1937 – jazz with a strong beat.^[2][8]
• 1948 – jumpsuit.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To spring off the ground by the action of the legs and feet; to leap.
2. To move suddenly or involuntarily, as in surprise.
3. To parachute from an aircraft.
4. To leap over or across.
5. To attack suddenly; to ambush.
6. To rise or increase suddenly.
7. To pass over; to skip.
8. To start before the proper time: jump the gun.

Noun

1. An act of jumping; a bound.
2. A sudden rise, as in price.
3. An abrupt change or transition.
4. A head start; an advantage: get the jump on.

Word family

• jumpable
• jumpingly
• jumped-up
• jumper
• jumpy
• jump-start
• outjump
• Johnny-jump-up

Related words

• bump
• thump
• leap

Usage notes

Jump, a man's short coat of the 17th and 18th centuries, is a different word, an alteration of jupe.^[9][7] The garment called a jumper is also unrelated and may come from Scots jupe.^[4]

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 h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press