jargon

¹ American  

[jahr-guhn, -gon] / ˈdʒɑr gən, -gɒn /

noun

1. the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group.

   medical jargon.

2. unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing; gibberish.

   Synonyms:

   twaddle, gabble, babble

3. any talk or writing that one does not understand.

4. pidgin.

5. language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to speak in or write jargon; jargonize.

jargon ² American  

[jahr-gon] / ˈdʒɑr gɒn /

Also jargoon

noun

1. a colorless to smoky gem variety of zircon.

---

jargon ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒɑːɡən /

noun

1. specialized language concerned with a particular subject, culture, or profession

2. language characterized by pretentious syntax, vocabulary, or meaning

3. gibberish

4. another word for pidgin

---

verb

1. (intr) to use or speak in jargon

jargon ² British  

/ dʒɑːˈɡuːn, ˈdʒɑːɡɒn /

noun

1. rare mineralogy a golden yellow, smoky, or colourless variety of zircon

---

jargon Cultural  

1. A special language belonging exclusively to a group, often a profession. Engineers, lawyers, doctors, tax analysts, and the like all use jargon to exchange complex information efficiently. Jargon is often unintelligible to those outside the group that uses it. For example, here is a passage from a computer manual with the jargon italicized: “The RZ887-x current loop interface allows the computer to use a centronics blocked duplex protocol.” (See slang.)

---

Synonym Usage

See language.

Other Word Forms

• jargoneer
  noun
• jargonist
  noun
• jargonistic
  adjective
• jargony
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of jargon¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English jargoun, from Middle French; Old French jargon, gargun, derivative of an unrecorded expressive base garg- designating the throat and its functions, as in gargle, gargoyle

Origin of jargon²

First recorded in 1760–70; from French, from Italian giargone, of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately from Persian zargūn “gold-colored” ( cf. zircon ( def. )), equivalent to zar “gold” ( see also arsenic ( def. ), gold ( def. ), yellow ( def. )) + gūn “color”; alternatively, perhaps akin to Old French jacincte, also jacunces, jargonce jacinth ( def. )

Explanation

Jargon usually means the specialized language used by people in the same work or profession. Internet advertising jargon includes the terms "click throughs" and "page views." This noun can also refer to language that uses long sentences and hard words. If you say that someone's speech or writing is full of jargon, this means you don't approve of it and think it should be simplified. In Middle English, this word referred to chattering, so its origin is probably imitative: it echoes the sound of chatter or meaningless words.

Example Sentences

Health-tech startup NewDays is betting that AI can empower people with dementia to seek out human contact, alleviating the isolation that often comes with—and exacerbates—cognitive decline, writes Julie Jargon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Jargon, he noticed, can be imbued with pseudo-religious significance.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2025

Jargon was the enemy, but graduate students dreaming of tenure would have to search elsewhere at the university not to be shut out of the discourse, a word he no doubt would have found lazy.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2023

Jargon can be hard to understand, but even worse are familiar terms that in a scientific context have entirely different meanings.

From Scientific American • Jan. 27, 2023

The analogies between the Chinook and the other native contributors to the Jargon are given hereafter.

From Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon, or, Trade Language of Oregon by Gibbs, George

Related Words

• argot
• idiom
• lingo
• parlance
• patois
• slang
• vernacular
• vocabulary