Etymology

pang

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Today it means: A paroxysm of extreme physical pain or anguish; a feeling of sudden and transitory agony; a throe. Full definition →

Middle English *pange ← Latin pronga
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pang · noun, verb1

  1. Latin · derived frompronga
  2. Middle English · inherited from*pange
  3. English todaypang

The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly derived from Middle English *pange, perhaps an altered form of prange, prōnge (“affliction, agony, pain; pointed instrument”) as in prongys of deth (“pangs of death, death throes”), from Anglo-Latin pronga, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with Middle Dutch prange, pranghe (“instrument for pinching”) (modern Dutch prang (“horse restraint; fetter, neck iron”)), Middle Low German prange (“pole, stake; (possibly) kind of pillory or stocks”), Old English pyngan (“to prick”). The word may thus be related to prong. The verb is derived from the noun.

Pang · proper noun2

  1. Khmer · derived fromបាង
  2. Hokkien · borrowed from馮 /冯
  3. Cantonese · borrowed from彭
  4. Mandarin · borrowed from龐 /庞
  5. English todayPang

From: * various Chinese surnames, including Mandarin 龐 /庞 (páng), Cantonese 彭 (paang⁴) and Hokkien 馮 /冯 (pâng) * Khmer បាង (baang).

Pang · proper noun3

The name of the river is a back-formation from Pangbourne.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.