The origin of
the word jazz is one of the most sought-after
word origins in modern
American English. The word's intrinsic interest — the
American Dialect Society named it the
Word of the Twentieth Century — has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well-documented. As discussed in more detail below,
jazz began as a West Coast
slang term around 1912, the meaning of which varied but which did not refer to music or sex.
Jazz came to mean
jazz music in
Chicago around 1915. Jazz was played in New Orleans prior to that time but was not called
jazz.
The earliest known references to jazz are in the sports pages of various West Coast newspapers covering the Pacific Coast League, a baseball minor league. The earliest example, found by New York University librarian George A. Thompson, Jr. in 2003, is from the Los Angeles Times on April 2, 1912, referring to Portland Beavers pitcher Ben Henderson
BEN'S JAZZ CURVE. "I got a new curve this year," softly murmured Henderson yesterday, "and I'm goin' to pitch one or two of them tomorrow. I call it the Jazz ball because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it." As prize fighters who invent new punches are always the first to get their's [sic] Ben will probably be lucky if some guy don't [sic] hit that new Jazzer ball a mile today. It is to be hoped that some unintelligent compositor does not spell that the Jag ball. That's what it must be at that if it wobbles.
Henderson's jazz ball apparently was not a success, as there are no known further references to it except for a brief mention in the Times the following day. While the lack of further attestations shows that Henderson is unlikely to have played a significant role in the popularization of jazz, his early use proves that the word was in existence by 1912.
