Meanings
belong1
present singular third person belongs · participle present belonging · participle past belonged · past belonged
- intransitiveTo have its proper place.
Where does this book belong? It belongs on the top shelf.
Synonyms: go
- datedinformalintransitiveobsoleteperhapsTo live in or be from a place.
Ah! this is the elder of the two - not the one who belongs to Cornwall - I can see that chap still there, holding on to yonder spar.
1878, James Francis Cobb, The Watchers on the Longships1 more example
" We have," he says, "in these parts a provincial usage of the word "belong:" as, "belong to Halifax," "belong to Leeds: "or, more commonly, "belong Halifax," "belong Leeds:" meaning, live there.
[1866, Henry Alford, A Plea for the Queen's EnglishSynonyms: go
- intransitivewith toTo be the property of, or be bound to by dependency or as an attribute.
That house belongs to me.
2 more examples
Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLCA turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff. These properties were known to have belonged to a toddy drawer. He had disappeared.
1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings - obsoletetransitiveTo be deserved by.
More evils belong us than happen to us.
1953, Ben Jonson, Timber: Or, Discoveries, page 70 - CornwallTo do something habitually or customarily.
[…] she belong to behave now she's growed up.
1942, Charles Lee, Cornish Tales, page 2341 more example
Belong. To be accustomed; to be due. He belongs to go every day. The 'bus belongs to start soon.
1895, Joseph Thomas, Randigal Rhymes and a Glossary of Cornish Words, page 68
belong2
alternative blung · alternative b'longta · alternative b'longa · alternative belonga · alternative blonga
- Australian Aboriginal; optionally followed by to; Australian Aboriginal; optionally followed by toOf, belonging to.
There’s the bloke that’s kill that feller, uncle belong you an me.
1986, B. Shaw, Countrymen5 more examples
Jim Campbell, Charlie, Dick, ... Fred, lubra b’longa him, me, thass all.
1915, E. R. Masson, Untamed TerritoryBy an’ bye ’im grow ’m up make ’m good fella stockman b’longta you.
1936, M. & E. Durack, ChunumaThose who had persevered with the course and had acquired some skill were now almost deferentially called ‘Maban (expert) belonga clay’.
1977, N. Kolig, Playing Alonga MudThem two bin help’m too, and that father blung to this one old Frank.
1986 December, Kowanyama NewsGet that fire [wood] stacked up like that tree there, that high ... It wasn’t wood belong to that fire pile. Might be for station, or somebody else, you know.
1991, D. B. Rose, Hidden Histories
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo have its proper place.
verbTo be accepted in a group.
verbTo be a part of a group.
verbTo live in or be from a place.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
belong · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
- Proto-Germanic*bi
- Proto-Germanic*bi-
- Proto-West Germanic*bi-
- Old Englishbe-
- Middle Englishbe-
- Proto-Germanic*langōną
- Proto-West Germanic*langōn
- Old Englishlangian
- Middle Englishlongen
- Middle Englishbelongen
- Englishbelong
From Middle English belongen, bilongen, from Middle English be- + longen (“to be fitting, be suitable”), from Old English langian (“to pertain to, suit”), equivalent to be- + long (“to belong”). Compare Saterland Frisian beloangje (“to attain, reach, meet”), Dutch belangen (“to concern”), German belangen (“to sue, concern”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →belong · preposition
Compare Australian Kriol blanga, Bislama blong, Tok Pisin bilong, and Torres Strait Creole blong.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans behoort, behoort
- behoortbe accepted in a group
- behoortbe part of a group
- behoortbe the property of
- behoortbe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- behoortset theory: be an element of
- hoorthave its proper place
Ancient Greek πρόσκειμαι
- πρόσκειμαι (próskeimai)be the property of
Arabic اِنْتَمَى
- اِنْتَمَى (intamā)have its proper place
Bulgarian принадлежа́, членувам
- принадлежа́ (prinadležá)be part of a group
- членувам (členuvam)be part of a group
- собственост съм на (sobstvenost săm na)be the property of
- принадлежа́ (prinadležá)set theory: be an element of
- принадлежа́ (prinadležá)have its proper place
Catalan pertànyer, pertànyer
- pertànyerbe accepted in a group
- pertànyerbe part of a group
- pertànyerbe the property of
- pertànyerset theory: be an element of
- pertànyerhave its proper place
Chinese Mandarin 屬於 /属于, 屬於 /属于
- 屬於 /属于 (shǔyú)be part of a group
- 屬於 /属于 (shǔyú)be the property of
Czech patřit, patřit
- patřitbe part of a group
- patřitbe the property of
- patřitbe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- patřitset theory: be an element of
- patřithave its proper place
Danish høre hjemme, tilhøre
- høre hjemmebe accepted in a group
- tilhørebe the property of
- høre tilbe the property of
- henhørebe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- tilhøreset theory: be an element of
- have sin pladshave its proper place
- passehave its proper place
- tilhørehave its proper place
Dutch horen, behoren
- horenbe accepted in a group
- behorenbe accepted in a group
- thuishorenbe accepted in a group
- horen bijbe part of a group
- thuishoren bijbe part of a group
- toebehoren aanbe the property of
- van iemand zijnbe the property of
- horen bijbe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- bij iemand zijnbe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- behoren totset theory: be an element of
- thuishorenhave its proper place
- horenhave its proper place
Esperanto ani, aparteni al
- anibe part of a group
- aparteni albe the property of
- aparteni alset theory: be an element of
Estonian kuuluma
- kuulumabe the property of
Finnish kuulua, kuulua
- kuuluabe accepted in a group
- kuuluabe part of a group
- kuuluabe the property of
- kuuluabe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- kuuluaset theory: be an element of
- kuuluahave its proper place
- lukeutuahave its proper place
French trouver sa place, faire partie
- trouver sa placebe accepted in a group
- faire partiebe accepted in a group
- s'intégrerbe accepted in a group
- appartenirbe part of a group
- appartenir àbe the property of
- appartenir àset theory: be an element of
- avoir sa placehave its proper place
German dazugehören, hingehören
- dazugehörenbe accepted in a group
- hingehörenbe accepted in a group
- dazugehörenbe part of a group
- gehörenbe part of a group
- gehören zube the property of
- gehörenbe the property of
- ist Element vonset theory: be an element of
- sind Element vonset theory: be an element of
- hingehörenhave its proper place
- dazugehörenhave its proper place
Greek ανήκω
- ανήκω (aníko)be the property of
Hebrew שייך
- שייךbe the property of
Hungarian tartozik
- tartozikbe the property of
Icelandic tilheyra
- tilheyrabe the property of
Italian appartenere a
- appartenere abe the property of
Japanese 所属する, 属する
- 所属する (shozoku suru)be part of a group
- 属する (zokusuru)be part of a group
Korean 속하다
- 속하다 (sokhada)be part of a group
Latin insum, insum
- insumbe accepted in a group
- insumbe part of a group
- insumbe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- insumset theory: be an element of
- insumhave its proper place
Latvian piederēt, piederēt
- piederētbe part of a group
- piederētbe the property of
Malay punya
- punyabe the property of
Norwegian Bokmål tilhøre
- tilhørebe the property of
Polish należeć, należeć impf do
- należećbe part of a group
- należeć impf dobe the property of
Portuguese pertencer, pertencer
- pertencerbe accepted in a group
- pertencerbe part of a group
- pertencerbe the property of
- pertencerset theory: be an element of
- pertencerhave its proper place
Romanian aparține, face parte
- aparținebe part of a group
- face partebe part of a group
Russian принадлежа́ть, принадлежа́ть
- принадлежа́ть (prinadležátʹ)be part of a group
- принадлежа́ть (prinadležátʹ)be the property of
- принадлежа́ть (prinadležátʹ)set theory: be an element of
- быть «свои́м»have its proper place
Scottish Gaelic buin, buin
- buinbe accepted in a group
- buinbe part of a group
- buinbe the property of
- buinset theory: be an element of
- buinhave its proper place
Slovak patriť
- patriťbe the property of
Spanish pertenecer [with en or a], pertenecer [with en or a]
- pertenecer [with en or a]be accepted in a group
- pertenecer [with en or a]be part of a group
- pertenecer [with a]be the property of
- ser de/suyobe the property of
- pertenecer [with a]be the guardian, spouse or partner of
- ser de/suyobe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- ser tal para cualbe the guardian, spouse or partner of
- pertenecer [with a]set theory: be an element of
- pertenecer [with en or a]have its proper place
Swedish höra hit, tillhöra
- höra hitbe accepted in a group
- tillhörabe accepted in a group
- tillhörabe the property of
- tillhöraset theory: be an element of
- höra tillset theory: be an element of
- hörahave its proper place
- höra hemmahave its proper place
Ukrainian нале́жати, нале́жати
- нале́жати (naléžaty)be part of a group
- нале́жати (naléžaty)be the property of
- бу́ти части́ною (búty častýnoju)be the property of
Yiddish געהערן, געהערן
- געהערן (gehern)be accepted in a group
- געהערן (gehern)be part of a group
- געהערן (gehern)be the property of
- באַלאַנגען (balangen)have its proper place
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with belong
Cite this entry
belong. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belong
“belong.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belong. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “belong,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/belong.
Source: belong on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.