boom [LME] There are three different words written boom. The oldest relates to the sound which it imitates. The second [E17th] refers to a spar on a ship and similar devices and comes from Dutch boom ‘tree, pole, beam’ and is thus related to English *beam, while the third boom [L19th], describing a sudden increase in something, comes from the United States and may well be related to the first sense. This gives us the baby boom, recorded since the late 19th century in American, but mainly referring to the uptick in births after the Second World War. This gives us the baby boomer, more recently shortened to boomer [L20th] for the generation born at that time, now becoming a term of disparagement when used by those who feel that this generation have benefitted unfairly. See also bomb.