Etymologically
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soundtrack

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsaʊnd.træk/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English sound + track, perhaps suggested by the earlier use of track for phonograph recordings.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sound component of a film, first carried on a narrow band at the side of the filmstrip: 1928 in Merriam-Webster, 1929 in Etymonline.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It came to mean the music of a film, and a commercial recording of that music.[4][5] The verb, to provide a film with a soundtrack, is a later use.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1928 – soundtrack.[3]
  • 1929 – sound-track.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The music or sound that accompanies a film.
  2. A recording of the music of a film, sold commercially.
  3. A narrow strip at the side of a film on which the sound is recorded.

Verb

  1. To provide a film with a soundtrack.

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
  6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press