boom English · revision 5906

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /buːm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|deep sound; sudden prosperity}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 1430}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The sound word is Middle English bommen, bummen, bomben, of imitative origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) perhaps after [[m|nl|bommen|t=to hum, buzz]],^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) and German bummen is similar.^(Barnhart 1988) Compare [[bomb]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To drink with a gurgling sound, before 1376 in ''Piers Plowman'';^(Barnhart 1988) to buzz, hum or drone, first of bees and wasps, in the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) about 1430 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To roar, rumble or reverberate is from the 15th century,^(Etymonline) and the noun, a loud deep sound, from about 1500.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The boom of the bittern and of distant guns belong here.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023) To sail at great speed is from the 17th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) The commercial sense is American: a place or business booming into prosperity is by 1871,^(Etymonline) the verb “to increase suddenly in value” from 1873 and the noun, a sudden rise in activity or prices, from 1879.^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad and the SOED take this as probably the sound word,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) but Barnhart thinks it closer to boom “to rush under full sail” (probably 1617).^(Barnhart 1988) The baby boom, recorded from the late 19th century in America but mainly of the births after the Second World War, gave baby boomer and later boomer, now used disparagingly of that generation.^(Cresswell 2021) The boom box, a large portable stereo, is from 1978.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1376 – to drink with a gurgling sound.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1430 – to hum, buzz.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1500 – a loud deep sound.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1871 – to prosper suddenly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1879 – a commercial boom.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1978 – boom box.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make a deep, loud, resonant sound, as [[thunder]] or guns do.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To speak in a deep, loud voice.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To grow or prosper rapidly: ''business boomed''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A deep, resonant sound, as of an explosion or of breaking surf.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A period of rapid economic growth or rising prices.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The cry of the [[bittern]].^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ {{homograph|2|pole, spar, barrier}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1543|origins=nl boom}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The spar is [[bor|nl|boom|t=tree, pole, beam]], from Middle Dutch,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) first as Scots boun (1543);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) it is cognate with Old High German boum and German Baum “tree” and with English [[beam]], and was borrowed to supply meanings in which beam was not used.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A beam or pole: 1543 in Scots in Barnhart; the 1640s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A pole set up to mark a channel is from the late 16th century,^(SOED 2002) and a barrier of chain or floating spars across a river or harbour from about 1645.^(OED 1989) A long spar run out from a ship to extend the foot of a sail is from 1662.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In the American lumber trade a line of floating timbers that holds logs in is from 1702.^(OED 1989) A movable bar or arm that carries a microphone or camera is from 1931.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A crane's projecting arm and the spar of an aircraft's tail belong to the 20th century.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1543 – a beam, in Scots.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1645 – a barrier across a river.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1662 – a ship's spar.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1702 – a timber boom in lumbering.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1931 – a microphone boom.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long [[spar]] that extends the foot of a [[sail]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A movable arm that carries a microphone or camera, or the arm of a [[crane]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A barrier of chains or floating timbers across a river or harbour.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[boomer]]

+ * [[bomb]]

+ * [[beam]]

+ * [[baby boom]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}