Meaning

noun meat (especially beef) cut in strips and dried in the sun

adjective lacking a steady rhythm

adjective marked by abrupt transitions

originEtymology tree English jerk Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English jerky From jerk + -y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0