- ragtime (n.)
- also rag-time, "syncopated, jazzy piano music," 1897, from rag "dance ball" (1895, American English dialect), possibly a shortening of ragged, in reference to the rhythmic imbalance.
If rag-time was called tempo di raga or rague-temps it might win honor more speedily. ... What the derivation of the word is[,] I have not the faintest idea. The negroes call their clog-dancing "ragging" and the dance a "rag." [Rupert Hughes, Boston "Musical Record," April 1900]