Etymology

bump

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Today it means: A light blow or jolting collision. Full definition →

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bump · noun, verb, interjection1

From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin. Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.

bump · noun, verb2

From Early Modern English; onomatopoeic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.