Vamp Was Part of a Shoe Before Anything Else
A vamp is a seductive woman or an improvised musical passage. The oldest sense is shoemaking.
A vamp is the upper front part of a shoe, an improvised repeated musical passage, and a woman who uses charm to exploit men. The shoe came first: Old French *avanpié*, the front of the foot. From patching a worn vamp came *to vamp*, meaning to repair or improvise, and from that the musical sense of a repeated figure held until a singer is ready. The seductress sense is separate, short for *vampire*, from a 1915 film called *A Fool There Was*.
- A shoe upper. *The vamp of the shoe.*
- A repeated passage. *Vamp till ready.*
- To improvise. *Vamping an accompaniment.*
- A seductress. *A vamp.*
- Old French — *avanpié*. *The shoe.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | vamp | A vamp. |
| Verb | vamp | Vamping. |
| Past | vamped | Vamped. |
| Related | revamp | To revamp. |
| Related | vampire | A vampire. |
- The vamp had worn through.Shoe.
- Vamp till ready.Music.
- Revamp means to redo.Related.
Why revamp means to renew
- Vamping a shoe meant fitting a new front to an old sole
- It was cheap repair, making something worn serviceable again
- Revamp applied the idea to anything refurbished
- The shoe sense is now almost entirely forgotten
- Revamp remains in daily use
Old French *avanpié*, from *avant*, before, and *pié*, foot; the seductress sense is short for *vampire*.
What is a vamp in music?
A short repeated passage played until a singer or soloist is ready, from the sense of improvising.
Why does revamp mean to renew?
Because vamping a shoe meant fitting a new front to an old one, making it serviceable again.