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Etymology and origin of the English word ling

Pronunciation

ling1 fish

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1228
Inherited from
Middle English lenge
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *langaz

Etymology

The fish is inherited from Middle English lenge, later ling.[2][3][4] The Oxford dictionaries think it probably of Dutch or Low German origin,[5][6][7][8] comparing earlier Dutch lenghe and linghe, now leng,[6][5] while the OED treats it as a Germanic word shared with Dutch, German Leng, Old Norse langa and Swedish långa.[2][3][9] All are probably from the root of long, the fish being named for its length;[4][10][9][3] the adjective is Old English lang (“long”),[10][3] from Proto-Germanic *langaz.[3] According to the OED, French lingue comes from the English word.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A long, slender cod-like fish of northern European seas: 1228 as lenge, in Barnhart's dating, and ling from 1340;[3] the OED's first quotation is from Havelok (about 1300).[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The ling was eaten above all salted or dried.[2][9] From the mid-19th century the name was given in North America, New Zealand and elsewhere to other fishes, such as the burbot and the cultus cod.[2][8] In Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well (1602) ling is slang for a woman seen as a sexual object, a play on the fish.[11]

Timeline

  • 1228 – lenge, the fish.[3]
  • c. 1300 – in Havelok.[2][4]
  • 1340 – the form ling.[3]
  • 1602 – slang, a woman, in Shakespeare.[11]
  • c. 1850 – applied to other fishes in America.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A long, slender food fish (Molva molva) of the cod family, found in the seas of northern Europe and often salted or dried.[8][9][2]
  2. Any of several related or similar fishes, such as the burbot.[8][9][2]

Word family

  • lingcod

ling2 heather

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1287 Middleton manuscripts
Borrowed from
Old Norse lyng via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Old Norse lyng

Etymology

The heather is inherited from Middle English lyng, also linge,[12][9][13] borrowed from Old Norse lyng (“heather”),[2][12][5][6][14] whence also Danish lyng and ljung.[2][10] The OED compares lingon (“cowberry”);[2] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford call the Norse word of unknown origin.[6][5][7] Klein relates it to slyngva (“to throw, sling”) and sling,[10] and Partridge suggested a link with Old English lōh (“strap, thong”), with a basic idea "to bend".[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

Heather: in 1287, as lynge in a Latin record of the gathering of heather, gorse and leaves in an abbot's wood;[12] the OED's first quotation is from the Durham account rolls (about 1357).[2][12] Merriam-Webster dates the word to the 15th century.[9]

Semantic evolution

The word was used in particular of the common heather, Calluna vulgaris, and formerly also of heathland.[2][5] Johnson (1755) noted that this sense was kept "in the north".[16] In dialect it was used from Scotland and Ireland as far south as Shropshire and East Anglia;[17] Wright reports that in the Northumberland moorlands it meant the cross-leaved and bell heathers rather than the common heather.[17] The meadow pipit was called the ling-bird.[5]

Timeline

  • 1287 – lynge, heather, in a Latin record.[12]
  • c. 1357 – in the Durham account rolls.[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson notes the word as northern.[16]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Heather, especially the common heather (Calluna vulgaris).[8][9][2]
  2. A growth of heather or other heaths.[9]
  • long
  • linger
  • sling

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  13. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  15. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  16. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  17. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)

Related etymologies

  • rotten · also from Old Norse
  • kindle · also from Old Norse
  • awe · also from Old Norse
  • scar · also from Old Norse
  • crawl · also from Old Norse
  • skate · also from Old Norse
  • troll · also from Old Norse
  • thrive · also from Old Norse
Cite this entry

“Ling.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/ling. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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