backpack English · revision 39689

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1896, Adams County Free Press}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbæk.pæk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|en|back|pack]], formed in American English.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The OED compares the earlier [[rucksack]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A pack carried on the back, by a person or by a horse or other animal, typically holding supplies and equipment: 1896, in the ''Adams County Free Press'' of Corning, Iowa.^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster gives 1897 for the noun,^(MWU 2024) Etymonline 1904,^(Etymonline) and Dictionary.com dates it to 1910–15 and calls it an Americanism.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb appears in the same Iowa newspaper in 1896, both for carrying something in a backpack and for hiking with one's supplies on one's back;^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1899^(MWU 2024) and Etymonline to 1916.^(Etymonline) The noun was soon applied to other things carried on the back with shoulder straps: a parachute pack from 1920,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and, since 1948, equipment such as a radio or fire extinguisher designed to be worn this way.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) The OED notes that the verb is now often used of travelling cheaply as a form of tourism,^(OED 2026) the sense of ''backpacking'' and ''backpacker''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In late 20th-century American Black slang, ''backpack'' as an adjective meant second-rate or unfashionable.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1896 – noun, a pack carried on the back; verb, to carry in a backpack and to hike with one.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1897 – Merriam-Webster's date for the noun.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1920 – a parachute pack.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1940 – verb, to travel along a route carrying one's supplies in a backpack (chiefly North American).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1948 – equipment designed to be carried on the back.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[bag]] with shoulder [[strap|alt=straps]], carried on the [[back]], used by walkers, travellers and students; a [[rucksack]] or [[knapsack]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A piece of equipment, such as a [[radio]] or [[parachute]], made to be carried on the back.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[hike]] or travel carrying one's belongings in a backpack, especially cheaply: ''They backpacked through Chile for a year.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To carry something in a backpack, especially over rough country.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[backpacker]]

+ * [[backpacking]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[back]]

+ * [[pack]]

+ * [[rucksack]]

+ * [[knapsack]]

+ * [[haversack]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}