tang

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tăng; IPA^(key): /tʰæŋ/

  • Audio (AU)

    (file)

• (General American) enPR: tāng; IPA^(key): /teɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -æŋ, -eɪŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle English tange, variant of tonge (“tongs, fang”), from Old Norse tangi (“pointed metal tool”), perhaps related to Old Norse tunga (“tongue”). But see also Old Dutch tanger (“sharp, tart, pinching”).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. Does this need another split between taste and metal bit? Also eye-dialect for tongue???

Noun

tang (plural tangs)

1. A refreshingly sharp aroma or flavor.

   Synonyms: bite, piquancy, spiciness

   Antonyms: blandness, dullness

   • 1904, O. Henry, The Missing Chord:

     The miraculous air, heady with ozone and made memorably sweet by leagues of wild flowerets, gave tang and savour to the breath.

2. A strong or offensive taste; especially, a taste of something extraneous to the thing itself.

   Wine or cider has a tang of the cask.

3. (figuratively) A sharp, specific flavor or tinge.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; , London: Iohn Williams , →OCLC:

     Such proceedings had a strong tang of tyranny.

   • 1806, Francis Jeffrey, “Memoirs of Dr. Priestley”, in The Edinburgh Review:

     a cant of philosophism, and a tang of party politics

   • 1913, Paul Laurence Dunbar, At Sunset Time:

     What, was it I who bared my heart / Through unrelenting years, / And knew the sting of misery's dart, / The tang of sorrow's tears?

4. A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part.
   • 1988, Richard Feynman, Ralph Leighton, "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character, New York, N.Y., London: W. W. Norton & Company, →OCLC, page 150:

     "And inside the joints, these so-called O-rings are supposed to expand to make a seal—is that right?" ¶ "Yes, sir. In static conditions they should be in direct contact with the tang and clevis and squeezed twenty-thousandths of an inch."

5. The part of a knife, fork, file, or other small instrument, which is inserted into the handle.
6. (firearms) The projecting part of the breech of a musket barrel, by which the barrel is secured to the stock.
   • 1985, Cormac McCarthy, chapter IV, in Blood Meridian , →OCLC:

     The rifle carried a vernier sight on the tang […]

7. The part of a sword blade to which the handle is fastened.
   • 1982, Gene Wolfe, chapter 27, in The Sword of the Lictor (The Book of the New Sun; 3), New York: Timescape, →ISBN, page 200:

     I spent the evening collecting the abandoned nests of birds from a rock face a half league distant, and that night I struck fire from the tang of Terminus Est and boiled the coarse meal (which took a long time to cook, because of the altitude) and ate it.

8. (zoology) Any of a group of saltwater fish from the family Acanthuridae, especially the genus Zebrasoma.

   Synonym: surgeonfish

9. (games) A shuffleboard paddle.

   Coordinate term: biscuit

10. Obsolete form of tongue.
    • 1667, John Lacy, Sauny the Scot: Or, the Taming of the Shrew, Act V,

      Sauny Hear ye, sir; could not ye mistake, and pull her tang out instead of her teeth?

11. (by extension) Anything resembling a tongue in form or position, such as the tongue of a buckle.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Imitative

Noun

tang (plural tangs)

1. A sharp, twanging sound; an unpleasant tone; a twang.

Verb

tang (third-person singular simple present tangs, present participle tanging, simple past and past participle tanged)

1. (dated, beekeeping) To strike two metal objects together loudly in order to persuade a swarm of honeybees to land so it may be captured by the beekeeper.
2. To make a ringing sound; to ring.
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     let thy tongue tang arguments of state

Etymology 3

Probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish tang (“seaweed”), Swedish tång, Icelandic þang

Noun

tang (countable and uncountable, plural tangs)

1. (rare) knotted wrack, Ascophyllum nodosum (coarse blackish seaweed)

Translations

Etymology 4

Clipping of poontang.

Noun

tang (countable and uncountable, plural tangs)

1. (countable, vulgar slang) The vagina.
   • 2002, Lynn Breedlove, Godspeed, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 9:

     The guys like to look at her tang, because that's how they are […]

2. (uncountable, vulgar slang) sexual intercourse with a woman

Further reading

• Acanthuridae on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “tang”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “tang”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

References

See also

• tangbao

Anagrams

• Gant, Gnat, gnat

Bislama

Etymology

From English tongue. Cognate with Tok Pisin tang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaŋ/
• Hyphenation: tang

Noun

tang

1. tongue

References

• Terry Crowley (2004) Bislama Reference Grammar, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi press, →ISBN, page 12

Blagar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taŋ/

Noun

tang

1. sea

References

• A. Schapper, The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1
• The Rosetta Project, Blagar Swadesh List

Cimbrian

Noun

tang

1. plural of tage

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

tang

Wikipedia ^da

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tǫng.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tanɡ/,

Noun

tang c (singular definite tangen, plural indefinite tænger)

1. tongs
2. forceps

Inflection

Etymology 2

From Old Norse þang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tanɡ/,

Noun

tang c (singular definite tangen, not used in plural form)

1. seaweed

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch tanghe, from Old Dutch tanga, from Proto-West Germanic *tangu, from Proto-Germanic *tangō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑŋ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑŋ

Noun

tang f (plural tangen, diminutive tangetje n)

1. pliers
2. tongs
3. (especially the diminutive) pincers, tweezers
4. (figuratively) shrew, bitch

Derived terms

• kniptang
• krultang
• nijptang
• pijptang
• waterpomptang

Descendants

• Negerhollands: tang
• → Indonesian: tang

Estonian

Etymology

• From Proto-Norse *ᛊᛏᚨᚾᚷᚢ (*stangu, “bar, rod, stake”) (compare Old Norse stǫng, German Stange), with the meaning change rod > something prickly > prickly ear (of wheat etc) > grain.
• From Finno-Mordovian, in that case cognate to Finnish tankea (“stiff”), Livonian da’nktõ, da’nkti (“strong, healthy”). Original meaning presumably was "something hard, stiff".

Noun

tang (genitive tangu, partitive tangu)

1. groat (hulled grain)

Declension

Further reading

• “tang”, in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “tang”, in Eesti etümoloogiasõnaraamat [Estonian Etymological Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2012

Hokkien

Iban

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taəŋ/
• Hyphenation: tang

Conjunction

tang

1. but

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

tang

Wikipedia ^id

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: tang
• Homophone: tank

Etymology 1

From Dutch tang, from Middle Dutch tanghe, from Old Dutch tanga, from Proto-Germanic *tangō.

Noun

tang (first-person possessive tangku, second-person possessive tangmu, third-person possessive tangnya)

1. pliers

Verb

tang

1. to use the pliers

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Noun

tang (first-person possessive tangku, second-person possessive tangmu, third-person possessive tangnya)

1. the sound of hit can, a metallic sound.

Etymology 3

Noun

tang (first-person possessive tangku, second-person possessive tangmu, third-person possessive tangnya)

1. Nonstandard form of tank.

Etymology 4

Noun

tang

1. (colloquial) Clipping of tentang.

Further reading

• “tang” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Kriol

Etymology

From English tongue.

Noun

tang

1. tongue

Kusunda

Noun

tang

1. water

Mandarin

Romanization

tang

1. Nonstandard spelling of tāng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of táng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of tǎng.
4. Nonstandard spelling of tàng.

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.

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From Malagasy tandraka.

Noun

tang

1. tenrec

References

• Baker, Philip & Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. 1987. Dictionnaire de créole mauricien. Morisyen – English – Français

Middle English

Noun

tang

1. Alternative form of tonge (“tongs”)

Northern Kurdish

Noun

tang ?

1. side

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

tang

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tǫng.

Noun

tang f or m (definite singular tanga or tangen, indefinite plural tenger, definite plural tengene)

1. (a pair of) pliers, pincers
2. (a pair of) forceps

Derived terms

• knipetang

See also

• tong (Nynorsk)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse þang, compare with German Tang.

Noun

tang m or n (definite singular tangen or tanget, uncountable)

1. kelp, seaweed (order Fucales)

References

• “tang” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

tang

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From Old Norse þang n.

Noun

tang m (definite singular tangen, uncountable)

1. kelp, seaweed (order Fucales)

Usage notes

• Prior to a 2019 revision, it was also considered grammatically neuter. With this change, definite singular tanget was made non-standard.

References

• “tang” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Phalura

Etymology

From Urdu تنگ (taṅg), from Persian .

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taŋɡ/, /taŋ/

Adjective

tang (invariable, Perso-Arabic spelling تنگ)

1. narrow
2. troubled

References

• Liljegren, Henrik, Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎, Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From Malagasy tandraka.

Noun

tang

1. tenrec

References

• Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français

Tai Do

Etymology

Cognate with Thai ทาง (taang), Lao ທາງ (thāng), Northern Thai ᨴᩤ᩠ᨦ, Lü ᦑᦱᧂ (taang), Shan တၢင်း (táang).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taːŋ⁵⁵/

Noun

tang

1. road, path, way

Tok Pisin

Etymology 1

From English tongue.

Noun

tang

1. tongue

Etymology 2

From English tank.

Noun

tang

1. tank

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From English tongue.

Noun

tang

1. (anatomy) tongue

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
• (Huế) IPA^(key):
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key):

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 喪.

Noun

tang

1. a series of events that encompasses a funeral, a burial or cremation, and a period of mourning spanning up to 3 years after the lunar date of death

   để tang

   to hold a public funeral, then stay in mourning (by watching your clothing choices and avoiding other taboos)

   đại tang

   mourning in 3 years

   (literally, “greater mourning”)

   tiểu tang

   mourning in 1 year or less

   (literally, “lesser mourning”)

   mãn/xả tang

   to officially end mourning

   hết tang

   the mourning (has) ended

   đám tang

   a funeral

   Nhà đang có tang.

   The family is in mourning.

   Chưa hết tang mẹ.

   They haven't officially ended mourning their mother.

   đeo băng tang

   to wear a funeral headband

   đội khăn tang

   to wear a funeral headscarf

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From English tangent.

Noun

tang

1. (trigonometry) tangent

See also

• tan
• côtang
• tiếp tuyến

Etymology 3

Noun

tang

1. (music) shell (body of a drum)

   Trống thủng còn tang.

   The drum was busted, leaving only the shell.

Etymology 4

Noun

tang

1. (fossil word) evidence of wrongdoing

   Đốt đi cho mất tang.

   Light it on fire to hide the evidence.

Usage notes

This sense only occurs in some compound words.

Derived terms

Etymology 5

Noun

tang

1. (informal) something or someone insignificant

   Cái tang thuốc này hút nặng lắm.

   Smoking this little thing packs a punch.

   Tang ấy thì biết làm ăn gì.

   That guy hasn't a clue how to make a living.

Etymology 6

Sino-Vietnamese word from 桑

Noun

tang

1. (fossil word) mulberry
2. (fossil word) silkworm

Usage notes

This sense only occurs in some compound words.

Derived terms

See also

• Ca-tang
• tang tảng

References

• "tang" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

Etymology 7

Sino-Vietnamese word from 鐺

Noun

tang

1. Buddhist copper instrument

Derived terms