gong

See also: Appendix:Variations of "gong"

English

Gong (instrument)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡɒŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɔŋ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɡɑŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒŋ

Etymology 1

From Malay gong, possibly onomatopoeic.

Noun

gong (plural gongs)

gong [3]

1. (music) A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a loud resonant sound when struck with a soft hammer.
   • 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 110:

     All the time six or eight large Chinese gongs were being beaten by the vigorous arms of as many young men, producing such a deafening discord that I was glad to escape to the round house, where I slept very comfortably with half a dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended over my head.

2. (UK, slang) A medal or award, particularly Knight Bachelor.
   • 2021, Otto English, Fake History, page 114:

     This grooming of the national mindset explains the retention of 92 "hereditary peers" in the House of Lords: individuals who are gifted a right to sit in the nation's upper chamber and facilitate laws for no other reason than that their ancestor was the illegitimate child of some prince, or willing to spaff a few quid on the title when David Lloyd Gorge was selling of gongs for bribes.

3. A metal target that emits a sound when it has been hit.
   • 1986, Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic, published 2022, page 184:

     Weems picked up the hammer and hit the gong so hard that it spun right around on its hanger and fell off.

Derived terms

• gong bath
• gonglike
• gongman
• gong show
• gongster
• nipple gong
• slit-gong
• sprinkler gong

Translations

percussion instrument

• Afrikaans: ghong
• Albanian: gong (sq) m
• Arabic: جَرَس m (jaras), نَاقُوس m (nāqūs)
• Belarusian: гонг m (honh)
• Bulgarian: гонг m (gong)
• Catalan: gong (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 鑼 / 锣 (lo⁴)

  Mandarin: 鑼 / 锣 (zh) (luó)

• Czech: gong (cs) m
• Danish: gongong
• Dutch: gong (nl) m
• Esperanto: gongo
• Finnish: gongi (fi)
• French: gong (fr) m
• Georgian: გონგი (gongi)
• German: Gong (de) m or n
• Greek: γκονγκ (el) n (gkongk)
• Hebrew: גונג m (gong)
• Hindi: घंटा (hi) m (ghaṇṭā)
• Hungarian: gong (hu)
• Indonesian: gong (id)
• Italian: gong (it) m
• Japanese: 銅鑼 (ja) (どら, dora), ゴング (ja) (gongu)
• Korean: 징 (ko) (jing), 공 (ko) (gong)
• Lao: ຄ້ອງ (lo) (khǭng)
• Lingala: lokole
• Lü: ᦅᦸᧂᧉ (koang²)
• Macedonian: гонг m (gong)
• Malay: gong (ms)
• Manchu: ᠯᠣᠩᡴᠣᠨ (longkon)
• Māori: pahū
• Maranao: momongan
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: gong (no) m
• Polish: gong (pl) m
• Portuguese: gongo (pt) m
• Romanian: gong (ro) n
• Russian: гонг (ru) m (gong)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гонг m

  Latin: gong (sh) m

• Sicilian: gong m
• Sikkimese: མཁར་རྔ (mkhar rnga)
• Slovene: gong m
• Spanish: gongo (es) m, gong (es) m, batintín m (Chinese type)
• Swedish: gonggong (sv) c
• Tai Dam: ꪁ꫁ꪮꪉ
• Thai: ฆ้อง (th) (kɔ́ɔng)
• Tibetan: འཁར་རྔ ('khar rnga)
• Turkish: gong (tr)
• Ukrainian: гонг m (honh)
• Vietnamese: cồng chiêng (vi), cồng (vi)

Verb

gong (third-person singular simple present gongs, present participle gonging, simple past and past participle gonged)

1. (intransitive) To make the sound of a gong; to ring a gong.
   • 1903, H. G. Wells, The Truth About Pyecraft:

     Poor old Pyecraft! He has just gonged, no doubt to order another buttered tea-cake!

2. (transitive) To send a signal to, using a gong or similar device.
   1. To halt (originally, a contestant in a talent show; later, a performer, a speaker).
      • 1996, Stephanie Holt, Maryanne Lynch, Motherlode:

        As she was gonged, host Daryl Somers swept rapidly across and salvaged an embarrassing situation by putting his arm around her and asking her whether she had children.

   2. To warn.

      The driver gonged the pedestrian crossing the tracks, but the pedestrian didn't stop.

3. (UK, slang, transitive) To give an award or medal to.
   • 1997, Peter Stone, The Lady and the President, page 147:

     In 1972 he was awarded the British Red Cross Silver Medal for his services to the Red Cross. In 1978 he was 'gonged' once again, this time with the Queen's Jubilee Medal, marking the 25th year of her reign.

References

• The Gong Show on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English gong, from Old English gong, where it was originally a variant of the noun gang (“a going, walk, journey, way, etc.”), derived from the verb gangan (“to go, walk, travel”), whose relation to go in Proto-Germanic remains unclear. Doublet of gang.

Noun

gong (plural gongs)

1. (obsolete) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
   • a. 1513, Robert Fabyan, New Cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce, volume II, page xxxii:

     The Iewe of Tewkysbury which fell into a Gonge vpon the Satyrday.

   • a. 1577, George Gascoigne, Grief of Joye, Vol. II, § lxii:

     A stately Toye, a preciows peece of pellfe,
     A gorgeous gong, a worthles painted wall...

2. (obsolete) The contents of an outhouse pit: shit.

Alternative forms

• gang, gonge, goonge, goung, gounge, gung, gunge

Synonyms

• (outhouse): gonghouse; see also Thesaurus:outhouse
• (feces): See Thesaurus:feces

Derived terms

gong

• gong farmer, gong-farmer
• gong-fayer
• gong-fower
• gong-hole
• gong-house
• gong-man
• gongpit, gong-pit
• gong scourer
• gong-thurl

Etymology 3

From Mandarin 功 (gōng, “merit; achievement”).

Noun

gong (uncountable)

1. (uncountable) A kind of cultivation energy, more powerful than qi.
2. (uncountable) An advanced practice that cultivates such energy.

See also

etymologically unrelated terms containing "gong"

• gong bao
• qi gong

Drung

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *guŋ (“body; back”).

Noun

gong

1. back
2. body
3. health

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay gong.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣɔŋ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gong
• Rhymes: -ɔŋ

Noun

gong m (plural gongs, diminutive gongetje n)

1. gong (disc-shaped metal percussion instrument)

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

gong m (plural gongs)

1. gong

Derived terms

• sauvé par le gong

Further reading

• “gong”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Noun

gong (plural gong-gong)

1. (music) a large gong

Jingpho

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *guŋ (“body; back”).

Noun

gong

1. physical body

Malay

Gong (instrument)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoŋ/
• Rhymes: -oŋ

Etymology 1

From Classical Malay [script needed] (gong), from Javanese gong.

Noun

gong (Jawi spelling ݢوڠ, plural gong-gong or gong²)

1. (music) a gong
2. (onomatopoeia) the sound a gong makes.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

gong (Jawi spelling ݢوڠ, plural gong-gong or gong²)

1. (botany) Helicia petiolaris

   Synonym: putat tepi

2. (botany) Xerospermum laevigatum

   Synonym: rambutan pacat

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

gong (Jawi spelling ݢوڠ, comparative lebih gong, superlative paling gong)

1. (obsolete) a bit crazy

   Synonym: gila

   Antonym: waras

2. (obsolete) stupid

   Synonyms: bodoh, bebal, tolol

   Antonyms: pandai, bijak

Further reading

• "gong" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Mandarin

Romanization

gong

1. nonstandard spelling of gōng
2. nonstandard spelling of gǒng
3. nonstandard spelling of gòng

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mangas

Etymology

Cognate with Warji gung, Polci goŋ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡòŋ/

Noun

gong

1. chief, king, ruler

References

• Blench, Robert; Bulkaam, Michael (2021) An Introduction to Mantsi, a South Bauchi language of Central Nigeria. University of Cambridge.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• gang, gonge, goonge

Etymology

Inherited from Old English gang, from Proto-West Germanic *gang, from Proto-Germanic *gangaz. Compare gangen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔnɡ/, /ɡɔ̝ːnɡ/
• IPA^(key): /ɡanɡ/, /ɡaːnɡ/ (especially Northern)

Noun

gong (plural gonges)

1. An outhouse; a building used as a lavatory.
2. (Northern) A group or set of items.
3. (chiefly Northern, uncommon) A walk; a journey, especially by foot.
4. (Northern, rare) A gait; the way one walks.
5. (poetic, rare) A band or company of armed men.

Descendants

• English: gang (see there for further descendants); gong, goung (obsolete)
• Scots: gang, gaung, ging

  Northeastern: dyang, gyang

References

• “gā̆ng, gō̆ng, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Malay gong.

Noun

gong m (definite singular gongen, indefinite plural gonger, definite plural gongene)

1. (music) a gong (percussion instrument)

Synonyms

• gongong

References

• “gong” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔŋː/

Etymology 1

From the verb gå.

Noun

gong m (definite singular gongen, indefinite plural gonger or gongar, definite plural gongene or gongane)

1. time

   Kor mange gonger hende det?

   How many times did it happen?

See also

• gang (Bokmål)

Etymology 2

From Malay gong.

Noun

gong m (definite singular gongen, indefinite plural gongar, definite plural gongane)

1. (music) a gong (percussion instrument)

Synonyms

• gongong

References

• “gong” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Noun

gong m

1. alternative form of gang

Polish

gong

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay gong.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔŋk
• Syllabification: gong

Noun

gong m inan

1. gong (percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer)
2. sound made by the gong

Declension

Declension of gong

	singular	plural
nominative	gong	gongi
genitive	gongu	gongów
dative	gongowi	gongom
accusative	gong	gongi
instrumental	gongiem	gongami
locative	gongu	gongach
vocative	gongu	gongi

Noun

gong m animal

1. (colloquial) fist blow

   Hypernym: cios

Declension

Declension of gong

	singular	plural
nominative	gong	gongi
genitive	gonga	gongów
dative	gongowi	gongom
accusative	gonga	gongi
instrumental	gongiem	gongami
locative	gongu	gongach
vocative	gongu	gongi

Further reading

• “gong”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “gong”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)
• gong in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French gong.

Noun

gong n (plural gonguri)

1. gong

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	gong	gongul	gonguri	gongurile
genitive-dative	gong	gongului	gonguri	gongurilor
vocative	gongule		gongurilor

Spanish

Alternative forms

• gongo

Etymology

From Malay gong.

Noun

gong m (plural gongs)

1. gong

See also

• batintín

Further reading

• “gong”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025