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Bokeh is derived from a Japanese term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus highlights as rendered by various lenses. This term is new to many photographers, having been most recently popularized in the USA by some articles (e.g., Photo Techniques Magazine May/June 1997 - see links to PDF file by Harold Merklinger above). But bokeh is a term that has been in use for decades to describe a real and easily perceived photographic effect.
Bokeh falls into the category of subjective lens factors, meaning we don't have any precise (objective) way of measuring people's reaction to lens bokeh using instruments or other measurements. While we can measure the out-of-focus blur as intensity curves for various lenses, it is harder to understand how they will impact our subjective reactions to the photographic results. For this reason, different people will respond differently to this aspect of lens performance, based on their personal subjective reactions to the out-of-focus lens highlights. So terms like "good bokeh" and "bad bokeh" have a subjective element in them too. So don't be surprised to see disagreements about the bokeh of various lenses, even between experts!
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