jazz

See also: Jazz

English

Alternative forms

• jaz, jas, jass, jasz (all dated, used from about 1912 to about 1918)

Etymology

Unknown. First attested around 1912 in a discussion of baseball; attested in reference to music around 1915. Numerous references suggest that the term may be connected to jasm and jism.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jăz, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒæz/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æz

A jazz band, The King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra, in 1921.

Noun

jazz (usually uncountable, plural jazzes)

1. (music) 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.
   • 1927, Samson Raphaelson, Alfred A. Cohn, The Jazz Singer, spoken by Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson):

     You dare to bring your jazz songs into my house!

   • 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Not too Far Tangent”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 30:

     You all look out now, here I come, everybody step aside, I’m gonna show you where from! I'm gonna blow in this horn and make you know that jazz is the king and let it be so!

   • 1995, Mike Reiss, Al Jean, “'Round Springfield”, in The Simpsons, season 6, episode 22, spoken by Bill Cosby:

     You see, the kids, they listen to the rap music which gives them the brain damage. With their hippin', and the hoppin', and the bippin', and the boppin', so they don't know what the jazz…is all about! You see, jazz is like the Jello Pudding Pop—no, actually, it's more like Kodak film—no, actually, jazz is like the New Coke: it'll be around forever, heh heh.

2. (figurative) Energy, excitement, excitability.
   • 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN:

     “You want something zippy there. Something with a bit of jazz to it!”

   • 1983, Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell, “Mexican Slayride”, in The A-Team, season 1, episode 1, spoken by B. A. Baracus (Mr. T):

     He loves the risk. The danger. He loves the jazz.

4. The substance or makeup of a thing; unspecified thing(s).

   Synonyms: stuff; see also Thesaurus:junk, Thesaurus:thingy

   and all that jazz

   What is all this jazz lying around?

   I'm just going down to the shops and jazz.

   • 1975, Garry Marshall et al., “Richie's Flip Side”, in Happy Days, season 2, episode 21, spoken by Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard):

     Dad, I want to be a jock. All a jock needs is some hep patter and a real gone image. Now, they just don't teach that jazz in college.

5. (with positive terms) Something of excellent quality, the genuine article.

   That show was the jazz!

   This risotto is simply the jazz.

6. Nonsense.

   Synonyms: rubbish, wass; see also Thesaurus:nonsense

   Stop talking jazz.

7. (slang) Semen, jizz.
   • 1968, Len Harrington, In drag, page 7:

     Suddenly, Bobby oozed his jazz into Gene's throat.

   • 1974, Peter Pepper, Meatslinger, page 141:

     […] making Glenn feel as though he could never stop shooting his jazz wildly up inside the man's brawny body!

   • 2018, Bert Shrader, A Gay Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:

     As he clung to the legs of his captor, he splayed his own out to the side, baring his groin and genitals to the eyes of all just as his jazz began to spurt out onto the stage.

8. A red-skinned variety of eating apple.

Derived terms

• acid jazz
• Afro-Cuban jazz
• all that jazz
• bluegrass-jazz
• bluegrass jazz
• cool jazz
• electrojazz
• free jazz
• good enough for jazz
• gypsy jazz
• hot jazz
• jazz band
• jazzbo
• jazz bow
• jazz box
• jazz cabbage
• jazz cigarette
• jazzcore
• jazz dance
• jazzdom
• jazz dot
• jazzen
• jazzer
• jazzerati
• jazzercise
• jazzetry
• jazzfest
• jazz funeral
• jazz-funk
• jazz fusion
• jazz garter
• jazz hands
• jazzhead
• jazz-hop
• jazzical
• jazzification
• jazzify
• jazzish
• jazzist
• jazzistic
• jazz journalism
• jazzless
• jazz-like
• jazz mag
• jazz-mugham
• jazz mugham
• jazznik
• jazzophile
• jazzophone
• jazz pants
• jazzperson
• jazz poet
• jazz poetry
• jazz rap
• jazz-rock
• jazz square
• jazzstep
• jazzster
• jazz up
• jazzwoman
• jazzy
• modal jazz
• nonjazz
• nu jazz
• nu-jazz
• outjazz
• progressive jazz
• punk jazz
• punk-jazz
• smooth jazz
• traditional jazz
• trad jazz

 

Descendants

• → Japanese: ジャズ (jazu)

Translations

musical art form

• Arabic: جَاز m (jāz)
• Armenian: ջազ (hy) (ǰaz)
• Belarusian: джаз m (džaz)
• Bulgarian: джаз m (džaz)
• Catalan: jazz (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 爵士 (zoek³ si⁶)

  Mandarin: 爵士樂／爵士乐 (zh) (juéshìyuè), 爵士 (zh) (juéshì)

• Czech: džez (cs) m, jazz (cs) m
• Danish: jazz (da) c
• Dutch: jazz (nl) m
• Esperanto: ĵazo (eo)
• Estonian: džäss
• Faroese: djassur m
• Finnish: jazz (fi), jatsi (fi)
• French: jazz (fr) m
• Georgian: ჯაზი (ǯazi)
• German: Jazz (de) m
• Greek: τζαζ (el) f (tzaz)
• Hebrew: ג׳אז (jaz), ג׳ז (jez)
• Hindi: जाज़ (jāz), जैज़ (jaiz)
• Hungarian: dzsessz (hu)
• Icelandic: djass (is) m
• Ido: jazo (io)
• Indonesian: jaz (id)
• Irish: snagcheol m
• Italian: jazz (it) m
• Japanese: ジャズ (ja) (jazu)
• Khmer: ហ្សាស (zaah)
• Korean: 재즈 (ko) (jaejeu)
• Latvian: džezs m
• Lithuanian: džiazas m
• Louisiana Creole: djaz
• Macedonian: џез m (džez)
• Malay: jaz
• Maori: puoro takihuri, puoro tautito, puoro tene
• Marathi: जॅज n (jĕj)
• Mongolian: жааз (mn) (žaaz), жазз (žazz)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: jazz (no) m

  Nynorsk: jazz m

• Persian: جاز (fa) (jâz)
• Polish: dżez (pl) m, jazz (pl) m
• Portuguese: jazz (pt) m
• Romanian: jazz (ro) n
• Russian: джаз (ru) m (džaz)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: џез m

  Roman: džez (sh) m

• Slovak: džez m, jazz m
• Slovene: džez m, jazz m
• Spanish: jazz (es) m
• Swedish: jazz (sv) c
• Tagalog: diyas, dyas
• Thai: แจ๊ส (jɛ́ɛt), แจซซ์ (jɛ́ɛt)
• Turkish: caz (tr)
• Turkmen: jaz (tk)
• Ukrainian: джаз m (džaz)
• Uyghur: جاز (jaz)
• Welsh: jazz m
• Yiddish: דזשאַז m (dzhaz)

the (in)tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a thing; unspecified thing(s)

• Czech: a tak
• Polish: cała reszta, różne takie
• Portuguese: porcariada f, coisarada (pt) f

of excellent quality, the genuine article

• Czech: super (cs)
• Polish: świetny (pl) m
• Portuguese: suprassumo (pt) m

nonsense

• Czech: kraviny f pl
• Georgian: უაზრობა (uazroba), აბსურდი (absurdi)
• Polish: bzdura (pl) f
• Portuguese: besteira (pt) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Basque: ^{(please verify)} jazz
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} джаз (džaz)
• Galician: ^{(please verify)} jazz (gl)
• Hindi: ^{(please verify)} जैज़ (jaiz)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} jazz
• Kannada: ^{(please verify)} ಜಾಝ್ ಸಂಗೀತ (jājh saṅgīta)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} iazium
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} جاز (fa)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} jazz (sv)
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} джаз (džaz)
• Urdu: ^{(please verify)} جاز (jāz)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} nhạc jazz
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} jazz

Verb

jazz (third-person singular simple present jazzes, present participle jazzing, simple past and past participle jazzed)

1. (slang) To destroy; to ruin.

   You’ve gone and jazzed it now!

2. To play (jazz music).
3. To dance to the tunes of jazz music.
4. To enliven, brighten up, make more colourful or exciting. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. (slang) To complicate. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   Don’t jazz it too much!

6. (intransitive, US slang, dated) To have sex for money, to prostitute oneself.
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 59:

     ‘Jazzing?’ Temple whispered […] . ‘Yes, putty-face!’ the woman said. ‘How do you suppose I paid that lawyer?’

7. (intransitive, slang) To move (around/about) in a lively or frivolous manner; to fool around. [from 20th c.]
   • 1958, Doris Lessing, A Ripple From the Storm, HarperPerennial, published 1995, page 119:

     ‘Well, if you're going to jazz about the way you do, I suppose you'll need rouge at your age.’

8. (slang, transitive) To distract or pester.

   Stop jazzing me!

9. (slang) To ejaculate.
   • 1982, Arthur Winfield Knight, Kit Knight, Beat angels, page 7:

     Twenty-four black men jazzed madly as trumpets exploded her eardrums in tom-tom time. Ebony orgasm flooded her with creme.

   • 1986, Winston Leyland, Hard, page 84:

     The thrill of the rimming soon made this guy beg for me to stop before he jazzed his nuts.

   • 1988, First Hand - Volume 8, Issue 2, page 47:

     I reached around and began jacking off Marshall's prick as I was jazzing his ass.

Synonyms

• (to destroy): annihilate, ravage; see also Thesaurus:destroy
• (to play jazz music): cook, jam; see also Thesaurus:play music
• (to enliven): invigorate, vitalise; see also Thesaurus:enliven
• (to complicate): complexify, confuscate; see also Thesaurus:complicate
• (to prostitute oneself): sell one's body, turn tricks; see also Thesaurus:prostitute oneself
• (to pester): bother, bug; see also Thesaurus:annoy

Translations

to play jazz music

• Danish: spille (da) jazz
• Finnish: soittaa jazzia, jatsata (fi)
• Polish: dżezować (pl), jazzować (pl)

to dance to jazz music

• Danish: jazze
• Finnish: jatsata (fi)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒas]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒas]

Noun

jazz m (invariable)

1. jazz

Derived terms

• jazzístic

Further reading

• “jazz” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “jazz”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “jazz” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Noun

jazz m inan

1. jazz

Declension

Declension of jazz (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	jazz	jazzy
genitive	jazzu	jazzů
dative	jazzu	jazzům
accusative	jazz	jazzy
vocative	jazze	jazzy
locative	jazzu	jazzech
instrumental	jazzem	jazzy

Further reading

• “jazz”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “jazz”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Noun

jazz m (definite singular jazzen)

1. (uncountable) jazz (form of music)

Derived terms

• jazzfestival
• jazzklub
• jazzkoncert
• jazzkvartet
• jazzmiljø
• jazznummer
• jazzpianist
• jazztrompetist

 

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English jazz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒɛz/, /dʒɛs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: jazz
• Rhymes: -ɛs

Noun

jazz m (uncountable)

1. jazz

Derived terms

• cooljazz
• dixielandjazz
• freejazz
• gipsyjazz
• jazzconcert
• jazzfestival
• jazzgitarist
• jazzmuziek
• jazzpianist
• jazzplaat
• jazzrock
• jazztrompettist
• jazzvogel
• jazzy
• jazzzanger
• jazzzangeres
• nederjazz
• negerjazz
• souljazz
• swingjazz
• zigeunerjazz

 

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɑts/, [ˈjɑ̝ts̠]
• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒæz/, [ˈdʒæz]
• Rhymes: -ɑts
• Syllabification^(key): jazz

Noun

jazz

1. jazz (style of music)

Declension

Inflection of jazz (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		jazz	jazzit
genitive		jazzin	jazzien
partitive		jazzia	jazzeja
illative		jazziin	jazzeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		jazz	jazzit
accusative	nom.	jazz	jazzit
	gen.	jazzin
genitive		jazzin	jazzien
partitive		jazzia	jazzeja
inessive		jazzissa	jazzeissa
elative		jazzista	jazzeista
illative		jazziin	jazzeihin
adessive		jazzilla	jazzeilla
ablative		jazzilta	jazzeilta
allative		jazzille	jazzeille
essive		jazzina	jazzeina
translative		jazziksi	jazzeiksi
abessive		jazzitta	jazzeitta
instructive		—	jazzein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of jazz (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative jazzini jazzini accusative nom. jazzini jazzini gen. jazzini genitive jazzini jazzieni partitive jazziani jazzejani inessive jazzissani jazzeissani elative jazzistani jazzeistani illative jazziini jazzeihini adessive jazzillani jazzeillani ablative jazziltani jazzeiltani allative jazzilleni jazzeilleni essive jazzinani jazzeinani translative jazzikseni jazzeikseni abessive jazzittani jazzeittani instructive — — comitative — jazzeineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative jazzisi jazzisi accusative nom. jazzisi jazzisi gen. jazzisi genitive jazzisi jazziesi partitive jazziasi jazzejasi inessive jazzissasi jazzeissasi elative jazzistasi jazzeistasi illative jazziisi jazzeihisi adessive jazzillasi jazzeillasi ablative jazziltasi jazzeiltasi allative jazzillesi jazzeillesi essive jazzinasi jazzeinasi translative jazziksesi jazzeiksesi abessive jazzittasi jazzeittasi instructive — — comitative — jazzeinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative jazzimme jazzimme accusative nom. jazzimme jazzimme gen. jazzimme genitive jazzimme jazziemme partitive jazziamme jazzejamme inessive jazzissamme jazzeissamme elative jazzistamme jazzeistamme illative jazziimme jazzeihimme adessive jazzillamme jazzeillamme ablative jazziltamme jazzeiltamme allative jazzillemme jazzeillemme essive jazzinamme jazzeinamme translative jazziksemme jazzeiksemme abessive jazzittamme jazzeittamme instructive — — comitative — jazzeinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative jazzinne jazzinne accusative nom. jazzinne jazzinne gen. jazzinne genitive jazzinne jazzienne partitive jazzianne jazzejanne inessive jazzissanne jazzeissanne elative jazzistanne jazzeistanne illative jazziinne jazzeihinne adessive jazzillanne jazzeillanne ablative jazziltanne jazzeiltanne allative jazzillenne jazzeillenne essive jazzinanne jazzeinanne translative jazziksenne jazzeiksenne abessive jazzittanne jazzeittanne instructive — — comitative — jazzeinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative jazzinsa jazzinsa accusative nom. jazzinsa jazzinsa gen. jazzinsa genitive jazzinsa jazziensa partitive jazziaan jazziansa jazzejaan jazzejansa inessive jazzissaan jazzissansa jazzeissaan jazzeissansa elative jazzistaan jazzistansa jazzeistaan jazzeistansa illative jazziinsa jazzeihinsa adessive jazzillaan jazzillansa jazzeillaan jazzeillansa ablative jazziltaan jazziltansa jazzeiltaan jazzeiltansa allative jazzilleen jazzillensa jazzeilleen jazzeillensa essive jazzinaan jazzinansa jazzeinaan jazzeinansa translative jazzikseen jazziksensa jazzeikseen jazzeiksensa abessive jazzittaan jazzittansa jazzeittaan jazzeittansa instructive — — comitative — jazzeineen jazzeinensa

Synonyms

• jatsi

Derived terms

compounds

• fuusiojazz
• groovejazz
• grovejazz
• jazzartisti
• jazzfestivaali
• jazzklubi
• jazzlaulaja
• jazzmessu
• jazzmusiikki
• jazzmuusikko
• jazzorkesteri
• jazztanssi

 

Further reading

• “jazz”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz. The compound jazband is attested in a 1918 copy of Le Matin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒaz/ ~ /dʒɑz/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

jazz m (uncountable)

1. (music) jazz (music style)

Derived terms

• jazz
• jazzifier
• jazzman

Further reading

• “jazz”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛt͡s/^*, /ˈd͡ʒaz/, /ˈd͡ʒɛz/
• Rhymes: -ɛts, -az, -ɛz

Noun

jazz m (uncountable)

1. (music) jazz

Adjective

jazz (invariable)

1. (relational) jazz

   Synonym: jazzistico

Derived terms

• jazzista
• jazzistico

Further reading

• jazz in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• jass

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

jazz m (definite singular jazzen)

1. (uncountable) jazz (form of music)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• jass

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz.

Noun

jazz m (definite singular jazzen)

1. (uncountable) jazz (form of music)

Polish

Alternative forms

• dżez

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English jazz.

Noun

jazz m inan

1. jazz
2. (slang) marijuana

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marihuana

   • 2011, Firma, (lyrics and music), “JaraMy” (track 20), in Nasza broń to nasza pasja, performed by Firma:

     Śmiech, relaks i spokój w każdym machu / rozpoznam kozaka po wyglądzie i zapachu / śpię po tym jak dziecko i śmieje się do łez / mniej szkodliwe to niż wóda, zalegalizujcie jazz!

     Laughter, relaxation, and peace with every toke / I can tell a badass by the way he looks / it makes me sleep like a baby and I laugh til I cry / it's less harmful than vodka, legalize hash!

Declension

Declension of jazz

	singular
nominative	jazz
genitive	jazzu
dative	jazzowi
accusative	jazz
instrumental	jazzem
locative	jazzie
vocative	jazzie

Derived terms

adjective

• jazzowy

 

nouns

• jazzband
• jazzman

 

Further reading

• jazz in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• jazz in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English jazz.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛs/

Noun

jazz m (uncountable)

1. (music) jazz (music genre)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:jazz.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English jazz or French jazz.

Noun

jazz n (uncountable)

1. (music) jazz (music style)

Declension

declension of jazz (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) jazz	jazzul
genitive/dative	(unui) jazz	jazzului
vocative	jazzule

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English jazz.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝas/ [ˈɟ͡ʝas]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝas/ [ˈɟ͡ʝas]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃas/ [ˈʃas]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒas/ [ˈʒas]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -as

Noun

jazz m (uncountable)

1. jazz

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Derived terms

• jazzista m or f by sense

 

Further reading

• “jazz”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

jazz c

1. (music) jazz

Declension

Declension of jazz

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	jazz	jazzs
	definite	jazzen	jazzens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• jazztobak (“cannabis”)

References

• jazz in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• jazz in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• jazz in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)