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tong

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "tong"

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English tonge (“tongs, fang”), tange, from Old English tange, from Proto-West Germanic *tangu, from Proto-Germanic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *denḱ- (“to bite”). Cognate with Old Norse tǫng (modern Icelandic töng), Old High German zanga (modern German Zange). Other cognates include Sanskrit दशति (dáśati, “to bite”) and Albanian dang (“bite, nip”).

Noun

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tong (plural tongs)

  1. (mostly plural) An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
    • 1998, Alberdina Houtman, Marcel Poorthuis, Joshua Schwartz, editors, Sanctity of time and space in tradition and modernity, page 232:
      […] these attributes are concrete expressions of God's care and providence and therefore not man-made. This explains the quite bizarre presence of a ‘pair’ of tongs in some lists: in order to make a tong one needs a tong, and how could the first tong be made without a tong?
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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tong (third-person singular simple present tongs, present participle tonging, simple past and past participle tonged)

  1. (intransitive) To use tongs.
  2. (transitive) To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.
Translations
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See also

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Etymology 2

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From Cantonese 堂 (tong4).

Noun

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tong (plural tongs)

  1. A Chinese lineage organization responsible for managing ancestral land.
    • 1995, Legislative Council of Hong Kong, “Block Crown Lease (Cheung Chau) Ordinance”, in Hong Kong Government Gazette‎[1], page A2772:
      An Ordinance to provide for the termination of the Block Crown Lease of Cheung Chau granted to Wong Wai Tsak Tong and for sub-lessees under the Block Crown Lease to hold directly from the Crown.
  2. A Chinese secret society or gang.
Derived terms
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Translations
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See also

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Etymology 3

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Noun

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tong (plural tongs)

  1. Obsolete spelling of tongue.
    • 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster:
      Or plaine and perfite way of teachyng children, to vnderstand, write, and speake, the Latin tong, but specially purposed for the priuate brynging vp of youth in Ientlemen and Noble mens houses, and commodious also for all such, as haue forgot the Latin tonge, and would, by themselues, without a Scholemaster, in short tyme, and with small paines, recouer a sufficient habilitie, to vnderstand, write, and speake Latin.

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Afrikaans

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Afrikaans Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia af

Etymology

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From Dutch tong, from Middle Dutch tonge, from Old Dutch tunga, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tong (plural tonge)

  1. tongue

Derived terms

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Antigua and Barbuda Creole English

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Noun

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tong (plural tong dem, quantified tong)

  1. town
  2. tongue

Betawi

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Noun

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tong

  1. term of address for little boys
    • 2008 [1931], Kho Wan Gie, Put On [The Anxious One], Jakarta: Pustaka Klasik, page 14:
      SI TONG PUNJA DUIT LU LIAT?
      [Si Tong punya duit lu liat?]
      Did you see the boy's money?

Descendants

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  • → Indonesian: tong

Chuukese

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Noun

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tong

  1. love

Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

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From Middle Dutch tonge, from Old Dutch tunga, from Proto-West Germanic *tungā, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s. The sense "Solea solea" likely refers to these flat fish' resemblance to a tongue.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tong f (plural tongen, diminutive tongetje n)

  1. tongue

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Noun

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tong m (plural tongen, diminutive tongetje n)

  1. sole (Solea solea)
    Synonym: zeetong

Derived terms

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French

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Etymology

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From Australian English thong.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tong f (plural tongs)

  1. flip-flop, thong
    Synonyms: (informal) clic-clac, (Canada, informal) gougonne, (Belgium, Africa) slache, (West Africa) tapette, claquette

Hokkien

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For pronunciation and definitions of tong – see 東 (“east; host; etc.”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 東).

Indonesian

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Malay tong, from Hokkien 桶 (thóng).

Noun

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tong (plural tong-tong)

  1. barrel
    Synonym: tahang
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Onomatopoeic.

Noun

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tong

  1. sound of a gong, kentungan

Etymology 3

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From Betawi tong (“boy”):

Noun

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tong

  2. (dialect, Jakarta) term of address for little boys
Alternative forms
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Further reading

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Malay

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Chinese 桶. Related to tahang.

Noun

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tong (plural tong-tong or tong2)

  1. barrel, tub, bin
Descendants
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Etymology 2

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From Dutch ton.

Noun

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tong (plural tong-tong or tong2)

  1. ton

Mandarin

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Romanization

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tong

  1. nonstandard spelling of tōng
  2. nonstandard spelling of tóng
  3. nonstandard spelling of tǒng
  4. nonstandard spelling of tòng

Usage notes

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  • 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.

Middle English

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Noun

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tong

  1. alternative form of tonge (“tongue”)

North Moluccan Malay

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From torang.

Pronoun

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tong

  1. short for torang

Etymology 2

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From Malay tong or Indonesian tong, from Hokkien 桶 (thóng).

Noun

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tong

  1. barrel (a round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop)

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Old Norse tǫng.

Noun

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tong f (definite singular tonga, indefinite plural tenger, definite plural tengene)

  1. (a pair of) pliers, pincers

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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Sora

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Etymology

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Cognate with Santali dōŋ (“a dance connected with marriage”) and Mon ဒံၚ် (tòŋ, “to dance while under daemonic possession; to proceed by leaps”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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tong

  1. to dance.

Derived terms

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References

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  • Ramamurti, R. S. (1933). Sora–English Dictionary. Delhi: Mittal Publication.

Tagalog

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Hokkien, possibly either:

  • 當 / 当 (tong, “to bear; to take responsibility; to match equally”) as recorded in Barclay (1923) in Douglas (1873), where "the person who supplies a private gambling party with room, cards, and food, (customarily) receives a percentage of the winnings" as per Barclay (1923).
  • 東 / 东 (tong, “host”, literally “east”) according to Manuel (1948) as in 做東 / 做东 (chòe-tong / chò-tong, “to act as a host”) or 作東 / 作东 (chok-tong) as recorded in Douglas (1873), because it was customary in China for the host to sit on the east side of the room or table when receiving a guest, who usually stays on the west side, as per Manuel (1948).

Chan-Yap (1980) also records a ⟨“tôŋ”⟩ (POJ: tong), which she described as 'percentage cut of a gambling taken from winners', though she was not clear on which term in Hokkien that she meant by this.
Compare Ilocano tong (“bribe money”), agtong (“to give bribe money”).

Noun

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tong (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜅ᜔) (colloquial)

  1. (gambling) percentage cut or commission of the winnings taken from the winner/s for the banker/dealer or owner of the gambling house
    Synonyms: kulas, sapinto, hulog
  2. (slang) bribe
    Synonyms: suhol, lagay, pabagsak, parating
  3. (slang) money
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See also
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Hokkien 黨 / 党 (tóng, “faction; club; cabal”), as recorded in Douglas (1873). Compare English tong.

Noun

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tong (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜅ᜔) (colloquial)

  1. association; political party; secret society

References

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  • “tong”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
  • “tong”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
  • Zorc, R. David; San Miguel, Rachel (1993), Tagalog Slang Dictionary, Manila: De La Salle University Press, →ISBN, page 144
  • Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980), “Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog”, in Pacific Linguistics, volume B, number 71 (PDF), Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University, page 146
  • Santos, Vito C. (1978), Vicassan's Pilipino-English Dictionary, Revised edition (overall work in Tagalog and English), With an Introduction by Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Metro Manila: National Book Store, →ISBN, page 2521
  • Panganiban, José Villa (1973), Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles (overall work in Tagalog and English), Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co., page 984
  • Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948), Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 65
  • Barclay, Thomas (1923), “當 tong”, in Supplement to Dictionary of the Amoy Colloquial Language (overall work in Hokkien and English), Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Limited, page 239
  • Douglas, Carstairs (1873), “tsok-tong”, in Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, With the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects. (overall work in Hokkien and English), London: Trübner & Co., page 527; New Edition, With Corrections by the Author., Thomas Barclay, Lîm Iàn-sîn 林燕臣, London: Publishing Office of the Presbyterian Church of England, 1899, page 527
  • Douglas, Carstairs (1873), “tóng”, in Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, With the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects. (overall work in Hokkien and English), London: Trübner & Co., page 528; New Edition, With Corrections by the Author., Thomas Barclay, Lîm Iàn-sîn 林燕臣, London: Publishing Office of the Presbyterian Church of England, 1899, page 528

Uzbek

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Other scripts
Arabic Afghan Uzbek
Yangi Imlo
Cyrillic тонг‍
Latin tong‍

Etymology

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From Proto-Turkic *taŋ.

Noun

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tong (plural tonglar)

  1. dawn, daybreak

Declension

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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Vietnamese

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Etymology

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This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Đại Nam quấc âm tự vị only glosses tong as an adjective (> tong teo) but there's the gloss "Nước chảy trôi đi hết, nước chảy tong" for another entry.”

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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tong • (宗)

  1. done for, screwed
    mất tong một buổi chiều mà chẳng tiến triển gì ― an afternoon wasted without any significant progress
    • 2001, Chu Lai, Cuộc đời dài lắm, NXB Văn học, page 199:
      Mưa. Thế là lại đi tong một ngày mủ vì mưa nữa rồi!
      Rain. So yet another day's worth of latex gone to waste because of the rain!
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