wang

See also Wang, wāng, wáng, wǎng, and wàng

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wæŋɡ/

Etymology 1

From Middle English wange, from Old English wange (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *wangōn (“cheek”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenǵ- (“neck, cheek”). Cognate with Scots wan, wang (“cheek”), West Frisian wang (“cheek”), Dutch wang (“cheek”), German Wange (“cheek”), Icelandic vanga (“cheek”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰- (wagga-) in 𐍅𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (waggareis, “pillow, cushion”).

Noun

wang (plural wangs)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) Cheek; the jaw.

Derived terms

• wangtooth

Etymology 2

(onomatopoeia)

Noun

wang (plural wangs)

1. (onomatopoeia) The sound made when a hollow metal object is struck a glancing blow.

Verb

wang (third-person singular simple present wangs, present participle wanging, simple past and past participle wanged)

1. To batter; to clobber; to conk.
2. To throw hard.
   • 1993, Tom McNally, “Panfish on Flies and Bugs”, in The Complete Book of Fly Fishing^[1], edition Second Edition, McGraw-Hill Professional, ISBN 9780070456389, published 1997, page 283:

     Ask, too, the guy in the bass boat wanging out a spinner-bait at Bull Shoals in Arkansas.

   • 1998, Barry Hines, “The Football Match”, in James Riordan editor, Football Stories^[2], Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780192754059, published 2004, "wanged" page 36:

     He wanged them across the room, and Billy caught them flying over his head, then held them up for inspection as though he was contemplating buying.

   • 2009, Mark Millhone, “Saltville”, in The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Chances: A Memoir^[3], Rodale, ISBN 9781594868238, "wanged" page 132:

     After Sam filled in my big block letters with the glitter, he unleashed his inner Jackson Pollock, wanging artful paint splatters everywhere.

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain. Perhaps short for whangdoodle (“gadget, doodad”), or from whang (“stour, thick slice", also "thong”), from thwang (“thong”). See thong.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wæŋɡ/, /wɒŋɡ/

Noun

wang (plural wangs)

1. (colloquial) Penis.

   I knew he liked wang when we first met, there was something about him.

Anagrams

• gnaw
• Ngwa

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑŋ
• (Belgium) IPA: /wɑŋ/

• audio (Belgium)

  (file)

• (Netherlands) IPA: /ʋɑŋ/

• audio (Netherlands)

  (file)

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wanga, from Proto-Germanic *wangô.

Noun

wang f. (plural wangen, diminutive wangetje)

1. Cheek.

---

Mandarin

Romanization

wang

1. Nonstandard spelling of wāng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of wáng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of wǎng.
4. Nonstandard spelling of wàng.

Usage notes

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

---

Old English

Alternative forms

• wong

Etymology

Cognate with Old Saxon wang, Old High German -wang (in holzwang), Old Norse vangr (Swedish vång), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /waŋɡ/

Noun

wang m. (nominative plural wangas)

1. (poetic) plain, field, ground

Descendants

• English: wong

---

Woiwurrung

Alternative forms

• wangga

Noun

wang

1. cheek

References

• Barry J. Blake. 1991 Woiwurrung In: The Aboriginal Language of Melbourne and Other Sketches, ed. R. M. W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake, pp. 31-124, OUP, Handbook of Australian Languages 4.