means To move, shake, or surprise someone or something with a sudden sharp jerk, shock, or burst of force.

from "Jolt" surfaces in English in the late 1500s, and its exact parentage is genuinely murky — etymologists shrug. The leading guess is that it's a blend or alteration of older words like "jot" or "joll" (to bump or strike, especially the head) crossed with something like "jolt" or "jut" — onomatopoeic cousins for abrupt knocking. In short: the word itself seems to have come into being the way the thing does — as a sudden, unexplained bump.