bump English · revision 10675

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=1560s}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʌmp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of imitative origin, echoing a heavy, dull blow,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) perhaps of Scandinavian origin: compare Middle Danish bumpe, to strike with the fist.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) It has long been associated with obsolete bum, to make a booming noise or to strike.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To bulge or swell out: the 1560s in Etymonline, the 16th century in Hoad;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Merriam-Webster gives 1581.^(MWU 2024) A protuberance caused by a blow is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To strike heavily, or a dull-sounding blow, is from the 1610s, both verb and noun in Cotgrave's Dictionary (1611).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Etymonline suggests that if the original sense was hitting, the swelling sense came from the result of being hit.^(Etymonline) ''Bump into'', to meet by chance, is from 1886, and ''bump off'', to kill, underworld slang by 1908.^(Etymonline) An air pocket was a bump to aviators from 1914,^(OED 1989) and the dancer's ''bump and grind'' is from 1940.^(Etymonline) ''Bumper'', a brimming glass, is from 1676, later anything unusually large (''a bumper crop'', 1759), and a car's protective bar from 1926.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) ''Bumpy'' is from 1865.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560s – to bulge.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1611 – a blow; to strike.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1676 – bumper, a full glass.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1886 – bump into.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – bump off.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1926 – a car bumper.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To knock or [[collide]] with something, often by accident.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To travel with jerks and jolts.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move someone from a place or position, as from a flight or a list.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''bump into'': to meet by chance.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A blow, collision or [[jolt]], or its sound.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A raised place or swelling; a [[lump]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bumpingly]]

+ * [[bumpy]]

+ * [[bumpoff]]

+ * [[bumper]]

+ * [[speed bump]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[thump]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}