Etymology

hang

H4A1N1G2

Today it means: To be or remain suspended. Full definition →

Middle English hangen ← Old English hōn ← Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han
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hang · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱenk-“to waver, be in suspense”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hanhaną
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hą̄han
  4. Old English · inherited fromhōn“to hang, be hanging”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromhangen
  6. English todayhang

From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”, transitive verb) and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”, intransitive verb), respectively from the transitive verb Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han and the intransitive verb *hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (“to suspend”) and hanga (“to be suspended”); all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną and *hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk- (“to waver, be in suspense”). See also Dutch hangen, Low German hangen and hängen, German hängen, Norwegian Bokmål henge, Norwegian Nynorsk henga; also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (hāhan), Hittite 𒂵𒀀𒀭𒂵 (/⁠kānk-⁠/, “to hang”), Sanskrit शङ्कते (śáṅkate, “is in doubt, hesitates”), Latin cūnctārī (“to delay”).

hang · noun2

From hang sangwich, Irish colloquial pronunciation of ham sandwich.

hang · noun3

Alteration of dang, itself a minced oath of damn.

Hang · noun4

  1. Alemannic German · borrowed fromHang“hand”
  2. English todayHang

Coined as a trademark, from Alemannic German Hang (“hand”), c. 2000.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.