Etymology

cling

C3L1I1N1G2

Today it means: Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit. Full definition →

Middle English clingen ← Old English clingan ← Proto-West Germanic *klingan
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cling · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*klinganą
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*klingan
  3. Old English · inherited fromclingan“to adhere”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromclingen
  5. English todaycling

From Middle English clingen, from Old English clingan (“to adhere”), from Proto-West Germanic *klingan, from Proto-Germanic *klinganą. Cognate with Danish klynge (“to cluster, to crowd”). Compare clump.

cling · verb, interjection2

Imitative; compare clink, clang.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*klinganą all →

clink

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.