string

Pronunciation

• IPA: /strɪŋ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English streng, inherited from Old English streng (“line, cord, thread”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *strangiz,^[2][4] also the source of Old Norse strengr, Dutch streng and German Strang “rope, cord”.^[2][3] It is related to strong.^[4][5] Etymonline traces it to a root meaning “taut, stiff”, from Proto-Indo-European *strenk- (“tight, narrow”).^[2] The verb is from the noun.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A line or cord, in early use of any thickness: before 900; the Old English word is in Beowulf, about 725.^[7][3] It also meant the string of a bow or harp, and in the plural a ship's tackle.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was gradually restricted to thinner cords, and the general material sense “thin cord” is from 1827.^[7][2] The Old English sense “sinew, tendon” survives in hamstring and heart-strings.^[2] A number of things in a row or on a string is from 1488–92,^[3] and a continuous series of events from 1710.^[2] To pull strings (1860) is an image from puppetry.^[2] A string as a condition attached to something is American from 1888, hence no strings attached.^[2][7][5] The verb, to fit a bow with a string, is from about 1400,^[3][2] a musical instrument from 1530, and to thread beads from 1612.^[3] String along, to deceive, is slang from 1902.^[2] In computing a string is a sequence of characters.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 725 – a cord, in Beowulf.^[3]
• c. 1400 – the verb, to string a bow.^[3]
• 1488 – a row of things.^[3]
• 1710 – a series of events.^[2]
• 1860 – pull strings.^[2]
• 1888 – a condition (US).^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Thin cord used for tying or fastening things.
2. A set of things threaded together, or a series of similar things or events: a string of beads, a string of wins.
3. A tight wire or cord on a musical instrument that sounds when played.
4. (the strings) The stringed instruments of an orchestra.
5. (often strings) A condition attached to an offer: no strings attached.
6. (computing) A sequence of characters.

Verb

1. To fit an instrument or a bow with strings.
2. To thread things on a string, or hang them in a line.
3. (with along, informal) To deceive or keep someone waiting.

Word family

• stringless
• stringlike
• drawstring
• hamstring
• latchstring
• superstring
• unstring
• G-string

Related words

• string along
• strong

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins