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Today it means

boom

a long pole along the bottom of a sail; a movable arm on a crane or microphone

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Where does the word "boom" come from? It comes from Dutch boom, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "boom" come from? It comes from Dutch boom, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).

Boom’s story begins in Dutch: boom meant “tree, pole.” A tree or beam, cognate of English 'beam'. It reached English by 1600s as boom. A sailing spar along the foot of a sail; unrelated to the sound 'boom'. Today, boom means a long pole along the bottom of a sail; a movable arm on a crane or microphone.

  1. Stage 1 · Dutch · 1500s boom "tree, pole", a tree or beam, cognate of English 'beam'.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1600s boom "a spar on a sail", a sailing spar along the foot of a sail; unrelated to the sound 'boom'.

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