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ring

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English has two words spelled ring: a circle, from Old English hring, and “to sound like a bell”, from Old English hringan.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /rɪŋ/[4]

ring1 circle

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ring, inherited from Old English hring (“circlet of metal; ring; part of a mail coat”),[5][1] from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“something curved, circle”),[5][1] the source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon hring, Dutch ring, German Ring and Old Norse hringr.[5][1][3] Possible cognates outside Germanic are Old Church Slavonic krǫgŭ “circle” and Umbrian krenkatrum “belt”,[1][2] from Proto-Indo-European *krengh-,[1] which Etymonline gives as a nasalized form of Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to turn, bend”).[5] It is related to rank.[6][7] The verb, “to put a ring on”, is from the noun.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A circular band: about 725, in Beowulf.[1] A finger ring of precious metal is in the OED from about 950.[8]

Semantic evolution

Old English also used it of a circular group and of the horizon.[5][1] In Anglo-Saxon times a gold ring was a sign of wealth and status;[7] as a token of marriage or betrothal it is by about 1200.[5] The space for a prize fight, from the circle of bystanders round the fighters, is from the early 14th century,[5] and the ring, “boxing”, by 1770.[5] Ringleader (1503) is from lead the ring, “to lead the dance”.[1] A number of things in a circle is by the 1580s,[5] a fairy ring from the 1620s, and the growth rings of trees from the 1670s.[5] A group of people combining for a purpose, first commercial or political, is from 1829.[5] The verb meant “to put a ring on” before 1387[1] and “to encircle” before 1500.[1][5]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – a ring.[1]
  • c. 1200 – a token of marriage.[5]
  • early 14th century – a ring for fighting.[5]
  • before 1387 – verb, to put a ring on.[1]
  • before 1500 – verb, to encircle.[1]
  • 1503 – ringleader.[1]
  • 1770 – the ring, boxing.[5]
  • 1829 – a group of conspirators.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A small circular band, usually of precious metal, worn on the finger.
  2. A circular object, shape or arrangement with an empty centre.
  3. An enclosed area for a contest or show, as in boxing or a circus.
  4. A group of people acting together, especially secretly or illegally.
  5. (chemistry) A closed chain of atoms.

Verb

  1. To surround; to encircle.
  2. To put a ring on or in, as on a bird's leg.

Word family

  • ringlet
  • ringleader
  • ringside
  • ringworm
  • earring
  • ring finger

ring2 sound

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ringen, inherited from Old English hringan (“to cause a bell to sound”),[5][1] from Proto-Germanic *khrengan,[5] the source also of Old Norse hringja, Swedish ringa and Dutch ringen, and related to Old Norse hrang “noise, din”.[5][1][2] It is probably imitative.[5][6] Outside Germanic, Lithuanian krañkti “to croak” and Tocharian B kraṅko “cock” have been compared.[1][2] Originally a weak verb, it took the strong forms rang, rung in early Middle English, after verbs such as sing.[5] The noun is from the verb.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 725, in Beowulf.[1] Middle English ringen is from about 1131.[1]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive sense, “to give a resonant sound when struck”, is by about 1200;[5] of places, “to resound”, about 1300,[5] and of the ears, “to hum”, by the late 14th century.[5] Of coins, sounding true when struck, it is by about 1600, and to ring hollow from the 1610s.[5] The noun meant a set of church bells from 1549, and an act of ringing from 1727.[1] Ring down or up a theatre curtain, from the bell that signalled it, is by 1772.[5] “To telephone”, with up, is by 1880, and of a telephone sounding by 1924;[5] ring up a sale on a cash register is by 1937.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – to make a bell sound.[1]
  • c. 1200 – to sound when struck.[5]
  • 1549 – noun, a peal of bells.[1]
  • c. 1600 – to ring true.[5]
  • 1772 – ring down the curtain.[5]
  • 1880 – to telephone.[5]
  • 1937 – ring up a sale.[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make a clear resonant sound, as a bell.
  2. To cause a bell to sound; to signal by a bell.
  3. To be filled with sound; to resound.
  4. Of the ears, to hear a humming sound.
  5. (chiefly British) To telephone.
  6. To give a particular impression: it rings true.

Noun

  1. The sound of a bell, or a similar sound.
  2. A telephone call: give me a ring.
  3. A suggestion of a quality: a ring of truth.

Word family

  • ringer
  • ringtone
  • ring up
  • dead ringer

Usage notes

The circle verb has past ringed, the sound verb rang and rung.[4] In Scots ring also meant “to reign”.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ 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)