sting English · revision 39531

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Alfred's translation of Boethius|origins=gem-pro *stinganą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈstɪŋ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|stingen]], [[inh|ang|stingan|t=to stab, pierce, prick with a point]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024) from [[gem-pro|*stinganą]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Its cognates are [[non|stinga|t=to stick, stab, pierce]] and [[goh|stungen|t=to prick]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) and Old Norse [[m|non|stanga|t=to pierce]] and German [[m|de|Stange|t=pole, perch]] come from the same base.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) An imperative [[got|𐌿𐍃𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌲|tr=usstagg]] "pluck out" may belong here, but the OED doubts its form.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster and Barnhart compare [[grc|στάχυς|tr=stákhus|t=ear of corn, spike]] and [[m|grc|στόχος|tr=stókhos|t=target, aim]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) and Etymonline suggests a nasalized form of [[ine-pro|*stegh-|t=to stick, prick, sting]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) The noun is [[inh|ang|sting]] or [[m|ang|steng]], formed from the verb;^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) the OED thinks that the forms ''sting'' and [[m|ang|styng]] may be separate formations from the root that later merged.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To pierce or wound with a point darted out, as wasps and scorpions do: Old English, in King Alfred's translation of Boethius, before 899.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, the act or wound of stinging, is also Old English, in the translation of Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English ''stingan'' was used of any sharp weapon: in the ''Battle of Maldon'' a warrior is stung with a spear.^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005) According to Ayto, this general sense was not displaced by the narrower one of insects until the late 15th century;^(Ayto 2005) the OED's last example of it is from 1470.^(OED 2026) The sharp organ of a bee or scorpion is called a ''sting'' from 1398, in Trevisa,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and the stinging hair of a nettle from 1567.^(OED 2026) Figurative uses began with Chaucer, who in the ''Pardoner's Tale'' (c. 1386) used the verb for a sudden sharp pain of the mind,^(OED 2026) and the noun followed in Hoccleve (c. 1412) for a wound to the heart;^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates the mental pain of a sharp remark to the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) From 1847 the verb also meant to smart, to throb with pain.^(OED 2026) A slang sense, to rob or cheat, appears in Vaux's 1812 vocabulary of flash language,^(GDoS) and the swindling and overcharging sense in American use from 1903–5.^(OED 2026) The noun ''sting'' for a carefully planned theft or fraud is American underworld slang of 1930,^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) and the later police sense, an undercover operation to trap criminals, is a development of it.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – ''stingan'', to wound with a sting.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * Old English – to pierce with a weapon (until 1470).^(OED 2026)

+ * Old English – the noun, a sting or its wound.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1386 – figurative, to hurt the mind (Chaucer).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1398 – the stinging organ of an insect.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1412 – a mental pang (Hoccleve).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1548 – of a plant, to cause a burning rash.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1812 – (slang) to rob or cheat.^(GDoS)

+ * 1847 – intransitive, to smart.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1860 – capacity to hurt, as in ''take the sting out of''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1905 – to swindle or overcharge.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1930 – (US slang) a carefully planned theft or fraud.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of an insect, animal or plant: to [[wound]] or prick with a sharp organ, often injecting [[venom|alt=poison]]: ''A wasp stung him on the wrist.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To cause or feel a sharp, burning pain: ''The salt water made her cuts sting.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # To hurt someone's feelings: ''His remarks about her cooking stung her.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To provoke or [[goad]] someone into action.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (informal) To [[cheat]] someone, especially by overcharging.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A wound or pain caused by stinging.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The sharp organ with which a bee, wasp, scorpion or similar animal stings; a [[stinger]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A sharp pain of the body or mind: ''the sting of failure''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A hurtful or sharp quality, as in ''take the sting out of''.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (slang) A carefully planned [[swindle]], or a police operation in which officers pose as criminals in order to trap them.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stingingly]]

+ * [[stingless]]

+ * [[outsting]]

+ * [[stingo]]

+ * [[stingray]]

+ * [[stingy]]

+ * [[stinging nettle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stinger]]

+ * [[stang]]

+ * [[stick]]

+ * [[stake]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scotland and northern England ''sting'' also meant a pole or staff, from Old English ''steng'', a form related to [[stang]];^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) ''sting and ling'' was a way of carrying a load slung from a pole on two people's shoulders, and later "entirely, by force".^(Wright 1898)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}