song English · revision 3599

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Old English sang, Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *sangwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sɒŋ/, US /sɑːŋ/, /sɔːŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|song]] (also [[m|enm|sang]]), [[inh|ang|sang|t=voice, vocal music, song, poem]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*sangwaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) formed from the root of the Germanic verb that gave [[sing]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004) Its cognates include [[osx|sang]], [[goh|sang]], [[de|Gesang]], [[nl|zang]] and [[non|sǫngr]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and Gothic has saggws.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*songʷʰ-o-|t=singing, song]], from [[m|ine-pro|*sengʷʰ-|t=to sing, make an incantation]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Oxford's Word Origins notes that sing and song come from the same ancient root.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act or art of singing, vocal music: Old English ''sang'', about 888;^(OED 1989) Barnhart's first example is from about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988) A composition for singing is recorded from about 897.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The musical call of certain birds is a ''song'' from late Old English, about 1000.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In literature the word is often used loosely for a poem meant to stir the emotions, of the kind traditionally sung to the lyre.^(Etymonline) The Old Testament ''Song of Solomon'' is named from 1382.^(OED 1989) ''For a song'', “for very little”, is from the late 16th century,^(Cresswell 2021) found in Shakespeare's ''All's Well That Ends Well'';^(Etymonline) ''Word Origins'' suggests it may come from the sale of ballad sheets at fairs.^(Cresswell 2021) A ''song'' became a fuss or outcry in 1843,^(OED 1989) and ''song and dance'', a contrived story or fuss, is American English from 1895.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Songbird'' is from 1774, in Goldsmith's ''Natural History''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''sang'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 888 – the art of singing.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 897 – a composition for singing.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – the song of birds.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1382 – the ''Song of Solomon''.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 16th century – ''for a song''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1774 – ''songbird''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1843 – a fuss, an outcry.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1895 – ''song and dance''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short [[composition]] written or adapted for singing.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The act or art of singing.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The characteristic sounds of a bird or insect.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # [[poetry|alt=Poetry]] or verse; a [[lyric]] poem or [[ballad]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(for a song)'' A very small sum.^(HTOED)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[songlike]]

+ * [[part-song]]

+ * [[birdsong]]

+ * [[singsong]]

+ * [[songwriter]]

+ * [[evensong]]

+ * [[plainsong]]

+ * [[songbird]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sing]]

+ * [[singer]]

+ * [[songster]]

+ * [[songbook]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate word ''Song'' names a Chinese dynasty of the 10th to 13th centuries, from Chinese ''sòng'', recorded in English from the late 17th century.^(SOED 2002)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}