Where does “Jazz” come from?

Jazz comes from English jass, whose origin is uncertain and the earliest meaning unknown.

Jazz (English): A musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over time, commonly characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms and improvisation

Definitions

  1. A musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over time, commonly characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms and improvisation

Ancestry of “Jazz”, step by step

Jazz traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Jaz

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishJazor any of its variant spellings

via English Jas

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishJasor any of its variant spellings

Words derived from “Jazz

Every word from English Jaz
Jazz — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer