# Huzzah
**Huzzah** (also spelled **huzza**) is an English exclamation of joy, applause, or approval, now generally classed as archaic or humorous and treated by dictionaries as a variant of *hurrah*.[1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/huzzah) • [2](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah) It functions as an interjection ("Huzzah! I found it!"), a noun for a shout or instance of acclaim, and a verb meaning to cheer or to salute with such cheers.[2](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah) • [3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Part of speech | Interjection, noun, and verb (transitive and intransitive)[1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/huzzah) |
| Meaning | An expression or shout of acclaim; used interjectionally to express joy or approbation[4](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/huzzah) |
| First known use | 1573, in the sense defined above[4](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/huzzah) |
| Etymology | Of unknown origin; possibly a sailor's hoisting cry, a variant of earlier *hussa*, *hissa* (compare *hoise*)[3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah) |
| Relation to hurrah | *Hurrah* (1680s) is apparently an alteration of *huzza*; *hooray*, *hurray*, and *hoorah* are later variants[5](https://www.etymonline.com/word/huzza) |
| Current register | Labeled "old use or humorous"; survives in informal writing and as a deliberately old-fashioned cheer[2](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah) • [3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah) |
## Meaning and grammatical behavior
Dictionaries give the word a consistent core across its uses. As an interjection it expresses joy, applause, appreciation, or encouragement, equivalent to *hurrah!*[1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/huzzah) • [6](https://wordsmith.org/words/huzzah.html) As a noun it denotes the exclamation itself or, by extension, an instance of praise or applause, as in "The newspaper's review was one big huzzah for the new movie."[3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah) As a verb it means to shout "huzzah" (intransitive) or to salute someone with huzzahs (transitive); Collins records the regular conjugation *huzzah, huzzahed, huzzahing*.[1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/huzzah) • [7](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/conjugation/english/huzzah) The derived adjective *unhuzzahed* is also recorded.[3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah)
## Origin
The etymology is unsettled. Merriam-Webster states simply that the origin is unknown, with a first known use in 1573.[4](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/huzzah) The *Online Etymology Dictionary* dates *huzza* (also *huzzah*) to the 1570s and describes it as originally a sailor's shout of exaltation, encouragement, or applause, perhaps a hoisting cry; it records the verb from the 1680s.[5](https://www.etymonline.com/word/huzza) The Random House etymology printed at [Dictionary.com](https://www.edgepedia.org/dictionary-com) and Collins derives the word from the period 1565 to 1575 as a variant of the earlier sailors' cries *hussa* and *hissa*, connected with the verb *hoise*, to hoist.[3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah) • [1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/huzzah) Collins's British entry summarizes the sixteenth-century origin as "of unknown origin."
The later cheer words appear to descend from it. *Hurrah* is attested from the 1680s and is described as apparently an alteration of *huzza*, with similar shouts recorded in German, Danish, and Swedish; *hooray* is its popular form and is almost as old, with *hurray* (1780), *hoorah* (1798), and *hurroo* (1824) following.[5](https://www.etymonline.com/word/huzza) The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary likewise derives *hurrah* as a late seventeenth-century alteration of *huzza*, perhaps originally a sailors' cry when hauling in nets.[8](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/hurrah)
## Historical pronunciation and use
The eighteenth-century cheer was pronounced differently from the modern word. A study of the cheer in American Revolutionary-era sources notes that at least forty pronunciations of "Huzza" were possible in English and that the earliest version of [Noah Webster](https://www.edgepedia.org/noah-webster)'s dictionary gave the pronunciation as "Huzzay." A later Webster edition, first published in 1828, was the first to give the pronunciation of Huzza as "Huzzah," with the final vowel rhyming with *bar* and *father*; the article credits Webster (1758 to 1843), an advocate of American spellings and pronunciations, with this shift.[9](https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/04/you-say-huzzah-they-said-huzzay/) The same account describes Huzza as the dominant cheer of the eighteenth century, now remembered mainly by students of history.[9](https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/04/you-say-huzzah-they-said-huzzay/)
Contemporary sources show the word in military and celebratory contexts: soldiers "hooted and shouted huzzahs" before an attack, and a gathering gave cheers of "huzza! huzza! huzza!"[2](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah) [James Joyce](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-joyce)'s *[Ulysses](https://www.edgepedia.org/ulysses-novel)* (1922) supplies a literary example, with a spectator crying "Huzzah!" as she waves her scarf.[10](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/10-expressive-interjections-your-vocabulary-has-been-missing/huzzah) Cambridge also records a speculation, offered as such, that the US state nickname *Hoosier* may have come from "Huzzah!" proclaimed after victory in a fight.[2](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah)
## Modern usage
Cambridge labels the word "old use or humorous," and its examples include both historical narration and playful modern use.[2](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah) Dictionary.com's usage note observes that few people literally shout "Huzzah!" today, that it sounds old-timey, perhaps more so than *hurrah*, but that it persists as an interjection in informal conversational writing such as social media posts and texts, often in the pattern "huzzah for" something.[3](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah) Merriam-Webster's recent citation examples, drawn from journalism between 2023 and 2026, show the noun used figuratively for praise or acclaim, as in a studio that "gets huzzahs for an ultimately perfect release date."[4](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/huzzah)
## References
1. [Huzzah definition and meaning, Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/huzzah)
2. [Huzzah, Cambridge English Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/huzzah?q=huzzah)
3. [Huzzah Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/huzzah)
4. [Huzzah Definition & Meaning, Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/huzzah)
5. [Huzza, Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/word/huzza)
6. [A.Word.A.Day: huzzah, Wordsmith.org](https://wordsmith.org/words/huzzah.html)
7. [Huzzah conjugation table, Collins English Verbs](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/conjugation/english/huzzah)
8. [Hurrah exclamation, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/hurrah)
9. [You Say Huzzah! They Said Huzzay!, Journal of the American Revolution](https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/04/you-say-huzzah-they-said-huzzay/)
10. [Huzzah, 10 Interjections Your Vocabulary Has Been Missing, Merriam-Webster Wordplay](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/10-expressive-interjections-your-vocabulary-has-been-missing/huzzah)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Linguistics › Language change, history, and social variation › Etymology and word origins*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license