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pop

Etymology and origin of the English word pop

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English has three main words spelled pop: the sound word, of imitative origin, “father”, from papa, and “popular”, as in pop music.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pɒp/, US /pɑːp/[4]

pop1 sound

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
c. 1400
From
Middle English poppe

Etymology

The sound word is inherited from Middle English poppe (“a blow, a stroke”), poppen, of imitative origin,[1][2][3] like splash, crack and bang.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, a blow or knock: about 1400.[1][6][3] The verb, “to strike, rap”, is from 1433.[1]

Semantic evolution

The earliest uses refer to rapping or knocking, a sense surviving in dialect;[7] the short explosive sound is not recorded before the 16th century:[7] the verb from 1576, the noun from 1591.[1][6] The verb meant “to thrust or put suddenly” from before 1529 and “to move or come suddenly” from 1530.[1] The adverb, “with a pop, suddenly”, is from 1621, in Fletcher's The Pilgrim.[1] Pop the question, “to propose marriage”, is from the early 18th century,[5][7] and pop as slang for “to pawn” from the 18th century.[7] The fizzy drink is named from the sound of the cork drawn from the bottle,[5] and Southey described it in 1812.[3] Popgun is from 1662, in Hobbes,[1] and popcorn is American, from 1819 for the variety of corn and 1855 for the puffed kernels.[1] A pop in baseball, a high short hit, is from 1935.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – a blow.[1][6]
  • 1433 – verb, to strike.[1]
  • 1530 – verb, to come suddenly.[1]
  • 1576 – verb, to make an explosive sound.[1]
  • 1591 – noun, an explosive sound.[1][6]
  • 1662 – popgun.[1]
  • early 18th century – pop the question.[5]
  • 1812 – a fizzy drink.[3]
  • 1819 – popcorn.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A short, sharp explosive sound.
  2. (informal) A sweet fizzy drink; soda.
  3. (informal) A try or a single time: five dollars a pop.

Verb

  1. To make, or burst with, a short explosive sound.
  2. To move, go or put quickly or suddenly: pop into a shop.
  3. Of the eyes, to bulge.
  4. (British, informal) To pawn.

Word family

  • popcorn
  • popgun
  • popper
  • pop-up
  • popover

pop2 father

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1828
Borrowed from
French papa
Ultimate origin
French (papa)

Etymology

The word for a father is a shortened and altered form of papa,[3][1] itself borrowed from French papa, from Old French, a children's word like Latin pappa.[3][1] The variant poppa is recorded from 1897.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Father: 1828 in Merriam-Webster,[2] 1838 in Barnhart and Etymonline, chiefly American English.[1][3]

Semantic evolution

It is used chiefly as a form of address to one's father, or to any older man.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 1828 – father.[2]
  • 1897 – poppa.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal, chiefly US) Father; also used to address an older man.

pop3 popular

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1862
Ultimate origin
Latin (populus)

Etymology

The adjective meaning “popular” is a shortening of popular,[1][3][2] first for a popular concert, often in the plural, as in the Boston Pops.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A popular concert: 1862, in George Eliot's letters.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective of songs and music with wide public appeal it is American English from 1926,[1][3] and as the name of a genre of music from 1954.[3] Pop art is from 1957, a shortening of popular art (1898), and was said to be used among the Independent Group of artists from late 1954.[1][3] Pop culture is from 1958, short for popular culture (by 1846).[3]

Timeline

  • 1862 – a popular concert.[1]
  • 1926 – adjective, popular music.[1][3]
  • 1954 – noun, pop music.[3]
  • 1957 – pop art.[1]
  • 1958 – pop culture.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or for the general public; popular: pop culture.
  2. Of pop music or pop art.

Noun

  1. Pop music.

Word family

  • pop music
  • pop art
  • pops

Usage notes

Other words spelled pop include an abbreviation of population (early 19th century) and a term of endearment for a girl, from poppet (late 18th century).[8]

References

  1. ^ 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 27 28 29 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pop.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pop. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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