Beep Was Coined in the Twentieth Century
A beep is a short high electronic sound. The word is imitative and could not have existed before the machines that make it.
A beep is a short high-pitched electronic sound. The word could not have existed before the machines: it is recorded from 1929, imitating a car horn, and spread through the twentieth century as more devices began making the sound. Sputnik's beeping signal in 1957 fixed it in the public imagination. *Bleep* is the British variant and also means the sound covering a censored word, which is why *bleep* can be a verb meaning to censor.
- A short electronic sound. *A beep.*
- To make that sound. *The oven beeped.*
- Bleep — the British variant. *Bleep.*
- To censor. *Bleeped out.*
- Imitative. *From 1929.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | beep | A beep. |
| Verb | beep | Beeped. |
| Variant | bleep | Bleep. |
| Agent | beeper | A beeper. |
| Coined | 1929 | Imitative. |
- The microwave beeped twice.Sound.
- The word dates from 1929.History.
- The swear word was bleeped.Censorship.
Words the twentieth century needed
- Beep — 1929, from car horns
- Zap — 1929, from comic strips
- Whoosh — 1930s, of rapid movement
- Ping — older, but repurposed for sonar and networks
- Click — old, but reshaped entirely by computing
Imitative, recorded from 1929, originally of a car horn.
How old is the word beep?
It is recorded from 1929, imitating a car horn, and spread as more machines began producing the sound.
Why does bleep mean to censor?
Because a tone was played over the offending word in broadcasts, and the name of the sound became the name of the act.