Jargon

How to spell jargon

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce jargon

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does jargon mean?

1. nounSpecialised or technical vocabulary used by a particular profession or group, often hard for outsiders to understand.

Jargon in a sentence

• The contract was full of legal jargon that confused most of the clients.

• The manual avoids technical jargon so that ordinary buyers can follow the instructions.

Where does jargon come from?

Language of origin: French

Jargon came into English in the late 1300s from Old French jargon, a word that first meant the twittering or chattering of birds, and by extension any noisy, unintelligible babble. The French term is thought to be imitative in origin, formed to echo the meaningless warble of birdsong itself. Geoffrey Chaucer used it in this earlier sense of senseless chatter before it narrowed to its modern meaning. Over the following centuries the sense shifted from 'gibberish' to the specialised, often baffling vocabulary used within a particular trade or profession, language that sounds like nonsense to outsiders. The spelling has stayed close to the French throughout, which is why it keeps the soft j and ends in the slightly unexpected -on rather than the more English -en.

How the word is built

• jargon (from Old French jargon: chattering, gibberish); a single unanalysed root, with no productive prefix or suffix in English