English word origin

Etymology of djent

Onomatopoeia for a high-gain, distorted palm-muted, low pitch guitar sound; coined by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal (b. 1970) of the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

A style of progressive heavy metal music characterized by rhythmic and technical complexity, and typically featuring heavily distorted, palm-muted guitar chords, syncopated, downtuned riffs, and polyrhythms alongside virtuoso soloing.

verb

To play a djent riff.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Onomatopoeia for a high-gain, distorted palm-muted, low pitch guitar sound; coined by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal (b. 1970) of the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

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Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-ZGplbnQ