 The similarity of "jazz" to "jasm", an obsolete slang term meaning spirit, energy, and vigor, and dated to 1860 in the Random House "Historical Dictionary of American Slang" (1979), suggests that "jasm" should be considered the leading candidate for the source of "jazz".A link between the two words is supported by a February 18, 1916 article in the "Daily Californian" which used the spelling "jaz-m", although the context and other articles in the same newspaper from this period show that "jazz" was intended.