styng

Middle English

Etymology 1

Probably originally two distinct nouns, though no clear semantic separation can be established:

• Old English sting, from Proto-West Germanic *sting, from Proto-Germanic *stingaz.
• Old English stynġ, from Proto-West Germanic *stungi, from Proto-Germanic *stungiz, both nouns ultimately related to *stinganą.

Alternative forms

• stenge, sting, stynge
• steng (Kent)
• stunchg (West Midland)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stinɡ/, /stind͡ʒ/
• IPA^(key): /steːnd͡ʒ/ (Kent)
• IPA^(key): /stynt͡ʃ/ (West Midland)

Noun

styng (plural stynges)

1. A sting; a sharp pain, especially that caused by a stinger.
   • a. 1333, “Poem 12: Tu rex glorie Christe; Fol. 208v”, in William Herebert, transl., Opera (British Library MS. Add. 46919)‎^[1], Hereford; republished as The Works of William Herebert, OFM (Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse), [Ann Arbor]: University of Michigan, a. 2018:

     Þou þat ouercóme þe bitter déthes stunchg, / Þou openedest hœuene ryche to ryth byleues þrunchg.

     You who overcame the bitter sting of death, / You opened the Kingdom of Heaven to true belief's throng.

2. (rare) A stinger; the point used by an insect to sting.

Descendants

• English: sting
• Scots: sting

References

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

Etymology 2

Verb

styng

1. (Late Middle English or Northern) alternative form of styngen

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

styng m (definite singular styngen, indefinite plural stynger, definite plural styngene)

1. (pre-1938) alternative form of sting

Old English

Etymology

Probably from Proto-West Germanic *stungi, from Proto-Germanic *stungiz. Less likely, a spelling variant of sting, from Proto-West Germanic *sting, from Proto-Germanic *stingaz. Either way, from the root of stingan.

Noun

stynġ, styng m

1. alternative form of sting
   • 1890 [c. 731], Saint Bede (the Venerable), The Old English Version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, page 122:

     sette þa his lichoman betweoh beforan þam stynge

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	stynġ	stynġas
accusative	stynġ	stynġas
genitive	stynġes	stynġa
dative	stynġe	stynġum

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	styng	styngas
accusative	styng	styngas
genitive	stynges	stynga
dative	stynge	styngum