Etymology

tong

T1O1N1G2

Today it means: An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands. Full definition →

Middle English tonge ← Old English tange ← Proto-West Germanic *tangu
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tong · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*denḱ-“to bite”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*tangō
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*tangu
  4. Old English · inherited fromtange
  5. Middle English · inherited fromtonge“tongs, fang”
  6. English todaytong

From Middle English tonge (“tongs, fang”), tange, from Old English tange, from Proto-West Germanic *tangu, from Proto-Germanic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognate with Old Norse tǫng (modern Icelandic töng), Old High German zanga (modern German Zange). Other cognates include Sanskrit दशति (dáśati, “to bite”) and Albanian dang (“bite, nip”).

tong · noun2

  1. Cantonese · derived from堂
  2. English todaytong

From Cantonese 堂 (tong⁴).

Tong · proper noun3

For the surname: Borrowed from Cantonese 湯／汤 (tong1), Cantonese 唐 (tong4), Mandarin 佟 (Tóng), Mandarin 童 (Tóng), etc.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishtonge all →

tung

Old Englishtange all →

Tangmere

Proto-Indo-European*denḱ- all →

tough

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.