- boom (v.)
- mid-15c., earliest use was for bees and wasps, probably echoic of humming. The meaning "make a loud noise" is 15c. Compare bomb. Meaning "to burst into prosperity" (of places, businesses, etc.) is 1871, American English. Related: Boomed; booming. Boom box first attested 1978.
- boom (n.1)
- "long pole," 1540s, from Scottish boun, borrowed from Dutch boom "tree, pole, beam," from a Middle Dutch word analogous to Old English beam (see beam (n.)).
- boom (n.2)
- in the business sense, 1873, sometimes said to be from boom (n.1), from the nautical meaning "a long spar run out to extend the foot of a sail" -- a ship "booming" being one in full sail. But it could just as well be from boom (v.) on the notion of "suddenness."
