pang

Etymology

The noun is of uncertain or unknown origin.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It is not found in Middle English,^[7] and in early use it occurs mostly in phrases such as “pangs of death” and those of childbirth.^[8][2] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford, Weekley and Collins take it as an unexplained alteration of the earlier pronge, also prange, a pang or throe, recorded in the 15th century,^{[8][9][10][11][12]} with the same loss of r that Weekley and the OED compare in the pet names Biddy for Bridget and Fanny for Frances.^[10][2] Skeat and Klein connect it with prong, a point,^[13][14] and the OED considers a link with prong possible but hard to explain.^[2] Hoad compares Middle Low German prange (“pinching”), Dutch prangen (“to pinch”) and Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍀𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (anapraggan, “to oppress”).^[8] Partridge saw a blend of pain with the Middle English word,^[15] and Johnson had derived it from pain or from a Dutch word.^[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sudden sharp spasm of pain, often of the pains of death or childbirth: 1482, in a letter of W. Cely.^[2] Barnhart dates the noun to 1526, in the phrase “pang of death”,^[6] and Etymonline to the 1520s.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Mental anguish or intense emotional pain is recorded from 1534,^[2] or from the 1560s in Etymonline and 1570 in Barnhart, as in “the pangs of love”.^[7][6] From 1542 the word was used of any sudden sharp feeling,^[2] and the OED notes that it now often has a weaker sense, a brief feeling of regret or unease.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as extreme pain or a sudden paroxysm of torment, quoting Shakespeare's “pang of heart” from Twelfth Night.^[16] The verb, to pierce with sharp pain, followed from the noun;^[2][6] it is now rare,^[9] and an intransitive use, to cause a pang, found in Shakespeare and Fletcher's Henry VIII, is obsolete.^[2]

Timeline

• 1482 – a sudden sharp spasm of pain.^[2] Barnhart dates it to 1526.^[6]
• 1502 – verb, to afflict with sharp pain.^[4][6] The OED's first record is from 1520.^[2]
• 1534 – a sudden feeling of mental anguish.^[2] Etymonline dates this to the 1560s and Barnhart to 1570.^[7][6]
• 1542 – any sudden sharp feeling.^[2]
• 1729 – verb, to suffer pangs, to ache.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sudden, sharp and brief spasm of pain: A pang in his side forced the runner to stop.^[11][4][2]
2. A sudden sharp feeling of mental or emotional pain, often a brief twinge of regret or guilt: She felt a pang of envy at her sister's good luck.^[11][4][2]

Verb

1. (rare) To cause pangs in; to torment.^[4][9][2]

Word family

• birth pangs

Related words

• prong
• pain

Usage notes

In Scotland, Ireland and northern England, pang is also a verb meaning to cram or stuff full, with an adjective meaning crammed or packed tight, from the 16th century;^{[2][17][4][9]} the OED calls its origin uncertain and compares Dutch prangen and Middle High German phrengen (“to press”).^[2] A pang imitating a short resonant sound is recorded from 1907.^[2][9]

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 r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ 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. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
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. ^ 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)