Etymograph

English

boom

Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”).

The story

Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (‘to hum, buzz’). The sense "a period of economic growth" is generally taken to derive from the sense "a rapid expansion", although other origins have also been suggested.

Another origin of boom

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baumaz‘West Germanic form of *bagmaz’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baum‘tree’reconstructed
  3. Old Dutchc. 500–1150bōm‘tree’
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500bôom‘tree’
  5. Dutchc. 1500–presentboom‘tree’
  6. Englishtodayboom

Today it means

verb To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / boom

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