jangle

Meaning

Noun

• A rattling metallic sound; a clang.
• A sound typified by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars, characteristic of 1960s pop music.

Origin

• From Middle English janglen, from Old French jangler; further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Frankish *jangelon (compare Middle Dutch jangelen, though the Oxford English Dictionary finds this improbable) and ultimately imitative.
• From Middle English jangle, from Anglo-Norman jangle and Old French jangle, from Old French jangler: see further at etymology 1. Later uses are derived directly from the verb.
• Sense 3 (“sound typified by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars”) is said to derive from a line in the song Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (born 1941): “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me / In the jingle jangle morning, I’ll come following you.”