percussion

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English percussioun,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman percussioun (“striking, blow”) or Middle French percussion, and directly borrowed from Latin percussiō (“a beating, striking; a beat”),^[3][4][5] a noun of action from percussus, the past participle of percutiō (“to strike hard, strike through”),^[2][6][7] formed from per- (“through”) and quatiō (“to shake, strike”),^[2][4][5][7] the source of quash.^[4][2] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the first half of the 14th century or earlier, and the French one from 1314, after an earlier sense "adversity, misfortune" (about 1200).^[3] The OED compares Italian percussione (before 1292) and Spanish percusión (1424 or earlier).^[3] The medical sense follows the French usage of Laennec in 1819, which in turn follows the Latin word in Auenbrugger's treatise of 1761 on percussing the chest.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of striking forcibly against something; an impact or blow: before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[3][4] Etymonline glosses the early word "a striking, a blow; internal injury, contusion".^[2] Hoad, Collins and Dictionary.com date it only to the 16th century.^[5][8][9]

Semantic evolution

From about 1460 the word was used especially of striking that makes a sound,^[3] and Johnson (1755) still defined it simply as "the act of striking; stroke".^[10] The musical sense, the playing of an instrument by striking it, appears before 1626 in Bacon;^[3] the phrase "instrument of percussion" for drums and the like is recorded by 1776.^[2][4] A rare palmistry sense, the outer edge of the palm, dates from 1644.^[3] Physicians took up percussion as a way of tapping the body to judge the organs by the sound: Etymonline finds it by 1781,^[2] while the OED's first English quotation is from 1821, in Forbes's translation of Laennec.^[3] In firearms, percussion was the striking of an explosive powder to fire the charge (1807),^[3] and the percussion cap followed in 1823.^[4] A short-lived verb percussion, to fit a firearm for firing by percussion, was used from 1844 to 1881.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1425 – a striking, impact, blow.^[3][4]
• c. 1460 – extended to striking that produces sound.^[3]
• before 1626 – the playing of an instrument by striking it, in Bacon.^[3]
• 1644 – in palmistry, the outer edge of the palm.^[3]
• 1776 – instrument of percussion.^[2][4]
• 1781 – medical percussion, according to Etymonline.^[2]
• 1807 – the firing of a gun by striking an explosive.^[3]
• 1821 – medical percussion, in the OED's first quotation.^[3]
• 1823 – percussion cap.^[4]
• 1844 – verb, to fit a firearm for percussion (obsolete by 1881).^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Musical instruments played by being struck, such as drums, cymbals and the xylophone, or the section of an orchestra or band that plays them.^[8][3][6]
2. The playing of such instruments, or the sound they make.^[3][7]
3. The forcible striking of one body against another; impact.^[8][7][3]
4. (medicine) The tapping of a part of the body to judge the condition of the organs beneath by the sound.^[8][3][2]
5. The striking of a percussion cap or of an explosive powder to fire a gun.^[8][3]
6. Used before another noun: worked by striking, as a firearm fired by a percussion cap.^[7][8]

Word family

• percussional
• percussionist
• percussion cap
• percussion instrument
• percussion lock

Related words

• quash
• percuss
• percussive
• repercussion
• concussion

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.