Jazz

The origin of this word is, of course, American and is first attested from around 1912. Contrary to popular belief, it did not originate from African American music in New Orleans because it was first used in California to describe a ball of exceptional pep or vigour in baseball. By 1915, it was being used to describe the exceptional vigour of a new genre of music that became known as jazz and it was this meaning that quickly took over from the vocabulary of baseball. The etymology remains obscure. Attempts to link it to African words like jasm meaning energy are interesting but unproven.