Jingle

How to spell jingle

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce jingle

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does jingle mean?

1. nounA short, catchy tune or verse, especially one used to advertise a product, or the light ringing sound of small metal objects.
2. verbTo make or cause a light, repeated ringing sound, as of coins or small bells.

Jingle in a sentence

• noun

  The radio station played the same insurance jingle every hour.

• verb

  Loose coins would jingle in his trouser pocket as he walked.

• noun

  A faint jingle of keys came from his coat pocket.

• verb

  The little bells on the door jingle whenever a customer enters.

Where does jingle come from?

Language of origin: Other

Jingle is an echoic, or imitative, word: it was coined to mimic the actual light, tinkling sound of small metal objects knocking together, the noise of coins or keys or little bells. It first appears in Middle English in the late 1300s, often spelled 'gingle', and the -le ending is the same frequentative suffix found in 'crackle', 'sparkle' and 'tinkle', signalling a sound or action that repeats in quick succession. Because the word was built to echo a noise rather than borrowed from any older root, its origin is sometimes called 'onomatopoeic', meaning a word formed in imitation of a sound. The soft 'j' spelling settled over the 'g' form fairly early, which is why modern writers occasionally hesitate over whether it begins with j or g. From the 1640s 'jingle' also came to mean a short, catchy verse whose chiming rhymes echo like little bells, and that figurative use later gave us the advertising jingle of the radio and television age.

How the word is built

• jing (echoic root imitating a light ringing sound)
• -le (frequentative suffix marking a repeated action)