The word [i]pimp[/i] first appeared in English in 1607 in a Thomas Middleton play entitled [i]Your Five Gallants.[/i] Of unknown origin, but may have stemmed from the French infinitive [i]pimper[/i] meaning to dress up elegantly and from the present participle [i]pimpant[/i] meaning alluring in seductive dress. [i]Pimp[/i] used as a verb, meaning to act as a pimp, first appeared in 1636 in Philip[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Massinger] [/url]Massinger's play, [i]The Bashful Lover[/i]. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term was commonly used to refer to informers. A pimp can also mean "a despicable person". The term can also be applied to a person who is considered a ladies' man. The verb "pimping" came up in the early 17th century. Rapper Nelly tried to redefine the word "pimp" by saying that it is an acronym for "positive, intellectual, motivated person." He created a college scholarship with the name "P.I.M.P. Juice Scholarship". Dawn Turner Trice of the [i]Chicago Tribune[/i] argues that there is "something truly unsettling, to say the least, about attaching such a vile word to a scholarship" and expresses concern about the glamorization of the term. In the first years of the 21st century, a new meaning of the word has emerged in the form of a transitive verb [i]pimp[/i], which means "to decorate" or "to gussy up" (compare [i]Primp[/i], especially in Scottish usage). This new definition was made popular by [i]Pimp My Ride[/i], an MTV television show. Although this new definition paid homage to hip-hop culture and its connection to street culture, it has now entered common, even mainstream commercial, use. In medical contexts, the verb means "to ask (a student) a question for the purpose of testing her or his knowledge". ~Wikipedia, 2018