thong

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*twenk-“to squeeze, press, pressure”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þwangiz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*þwangi
4. Old English · inherited fromþwong
5. Middle English · inherited fromthong
6. English todaythong

From Middle English thong, thwong, thwang, from Old English þwong, þwang (“thong, band, strap, cord, strip of leather; phylactery”), from Proto-West Germanic *þwangi, from Proto-Germanic *þwangiz, *þwanguz (“coercion, constraint, band, clamp, strap”), from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to squeeze, press, pressure”). Cognate with Scots thwang, thwayng, thang (“thong”), Middle Low German dwenge (“clamp, jaws, steel-trap”), German Zwinge (“vise, clamp”), Danish tvinge (“clamp”), dialectal Norwegian tveng (“shoestrap, shoelace”), Swedish tving (“clamp”), Icelandic þvengur (“strap, thong, latchet”).

Words from the same roots