music | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

19 entries found.

1935, proprietary name for piped music, supposedly a blend of music and Kodak, said to have been coined by Gen. George Squier (1865-1934), who, among his other important inventions, developed the system of background music for workplaces c. 1922.

ABBA

Swedish pop music group formed 1972, the name dates from 1973 and is an acronym from the first names of the four band members: Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog.

Morgan

surname, a very old Celtic name. As a type of horse, 1840, named for Justin Morgan (1747-1798), Vermont horse-breeder and music teacher; the breed was developed from a stallion he owned.

Muse (n.)

late 14c., "one of the nine Muses of classical mythology," daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, protectors of the arts; from Old French Muse and directly from Latin Musa, from Greek Mousa, "the Muse," also "music, song," ultimately from PIE root *men- (1) "to think." Meaning "inspiring goddess of a particular poet" (with a lower-case m-) is from late 14c.

The traditional names and specialties of the nine Muses are: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry, lyric art), Euterpe (music, especially flute), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy).

Pulitzer (n.)

annual awards for distinguished work in U.S. journalism, letters, music, etc., 1918, named for U.S. journalist Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), publisher of the New York Globe, who established the awards in 1917 through an endowment to Columbia University.

Dorian (adj.)

"of Doris or Doria," c. 1600, first in reference to the mode of ancient Greek music, literally "of Doris," from Greek Doris, the small district in central Greece, traditionally named for Doros, legendary ancestor of the Dorians, whose name is probably related to dōron "gift" (from PIE root *do- "to give").

From 1620s as "native or inhabitant of Doris." Dorian was the name the ancient Greeks gave to one of their four great divisions (the others being the Aeolians, Ionians, and Achaeans). In addition to architecture and music, The Dorians had their own calendar and dialect (see Doric) and the Dorian states included Sparta, Argos, Megara, and the island of Rhodes.

Mersey

English river running past Liverpool, c. 1000, Mærse, probably "boundary river," from Old English mæres (genitive singular of mære "boundary, object indicating a boundary;" see mere (n.2)) + ea "river." Related: Merseysider. Mersey beat, in reference to the popular music style associated with the Beatles, is by 1963.

Clyde

masc. proper name, from the family name, from the region of the Clyde River in Scotland (see Clydesdale). Most popular in U.S. for boys c. 1890-1910, falling off rapidly thereafter, hence probably its use in 1940s teenager slang for "a square, one not versed in popular music or culture."

Ionic (adj.)

"pertaining to Ionia or the Ionians," 1570s of music; 1580s of architecture, from Latin Ionicus, from Greek Ionikos (see Ionian). In prosody, a foot of two long syllables followed by two short. The Ionic school of philosophers (Thales, Anaxamander, etc.) studied the material world in ways that somewhat anticipated observational science. It also once was the name of an important school of Greek painting, but all of it save the name is lost. Related: Ionicize (1841).

Nashville

capital of Tennessee, U.S., named for Gen. Francis Nash (1742-1777) of North Carolina, U.S. Revolutionary War hero killed at the Battle of Germantown. The surname is attested from 1296 in Sussex Subsidy Rolls, atten Eysse, atte Nasche (with assimilation of -n- from a preposition; see N), meaning "near an ash tree," or "near a place called Ash." In reference to a type of country & western music that originated there, 1963.

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