tung

English

Alternative forms

• tongue

Etymology 1

From Middle English tonge, from Old English tung, tunge (“tongue, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *tungā, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ (“tongue”); along with Dutch tong, German Zunge, Swedish tunga, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Noun

tung (plural tungs)

1. Obsolete spelling of tongue both as language and as part of the body
   • 1557 July 16, John Cheke, “"Inkhorn" terms: Sir John Cheke”, in Univ of Victoria, Canada‎, retrieved 2012-09-29:

     I am of this opinion that our own tung shold be written cleane and pure, unmixt and unmangeled with borowing of other tunges, …

   • 1790, Noah Webster, “The Founders' Constitution Vol 1, Chap 15, Doc 44”, in Univ. of Chicago‎, retrieved 2012-09-29:

     … ever exposed to their envy, and the tung of slander …

   • 1832, Noah Webster, Edmund Henry Barker, A Dictionary of the English Language‎, Digitized edition, Black and Young, published 2010, page 542:

     Our common orthography is incorrect; the true spelling is tung.

   • 1848, Jonathan Morgan, The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ‎, Digitized edition, SH Colesworthy, published 2008, page 215:

     … words to be spoken with the understanding, that I may teach others also, than myriads of words, in a tung. ... In the law, it hath been written, That, with other tungs and other lips I will speak to this people, and then they will not hear ...

   • 1872, Hugh Rowley, Sage stuffing for green goslings; or, Saws for the goose and saws‎, Digitized edition, published 2006, page 159:

     If they've got anything to say which they want you to hear, let 'em say it out; if not, hold their tungs.

   • 2002 Fall, Richard Whelan, quoting Melvil Dewey, “The American Spelling Reform Movement”, in Verbatim, The Language Quarterly‎, volume XXVII, number 4, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5:

     English has strength, simplicity, conciseness, capacity for taking words freely from other tungs, and best of all has the greatest literature the world has yet produced.

Usage notes

May be used by advocates of English spelling reform.

References

• Webster's 1828 Dictionary, tung
• Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, Supplement, Vol. XII, Page 1387, tung, tungd

Etymology 2

From Chinese 桐 (tóng).

Noun

tung (plural tungs)

1. A tung tree.

Derived terms

• tung oil, tung oil tree

Translations

Anagrams

• GUNT, Gunt, gunt

Albanian

Etymology

Shortened from tungjatjeta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuŋ(ɡ)/

Interjection

tung

1. (informal) hi, hello
2. (informal) good bye

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse þungr, from Proto-Germanic *þunguz, from *tengʰ- (“to pull back, be heavy”), cf. Lithuanian tingùs (“heavy”), Russian тя́жкий (tjážkij, “hard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Adjective

tung (neuter tungt, plural and definite singular attributive tunge)

1. heavy

Inflection

Middle English

Noun

tung

1. Alternative form of tonge (“tongue”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse þungr, from Proto-Germanic *þunguz.

Adjective

tung (neuter singular tungt, definite singular and plural tunge, comparative tyngre or tungere, indefinite superlative tyngst or tungest, definite superlative tyngste or tungeste)

1. heavy

Derived terms

References

• “tung” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse þungr, from Proto-Germanic *þunguz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʊŋː/

Adjective

tung (masculine and feminine tung, neuter tungt, definite singular and plural tunge, comparative tyngre, indefinite superlative tyngst, definite superlative tyngste)

1. heavy

   Ryggsekken verkar berre tyngre og tyngre.

   The rucksack just feels heavier and heavier.

2. hard, difficult

   Dette var ei tung tid for dei.

   This was a difficult time for them.

3. tired, unwell

   Eg kjenner meg tung i kroppen.

   My body feels tired.

Derived terms

References

• “tung” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old High German

Alternative forms

• tunc

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *dung (“cellar”).

Noun

tung m

1. a barn covered with dung
2. an underground cellar

Descendants

• Middle High German: tunc
  • German: Tunk

Rawang

Noun

tung

1. jail

Scots

Etymology

From Old English tunge.

Noun

tung (plural tungs)

1. (anatomy) tongue

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse þungr, from Proto-Germanic *þunguz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɵŋ/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

tung (comparative tyngre, superlative tyngst)

1. heavy (having great weight)

   Den här stenen är jättetung

   This rock is really heavy

2. heavy, arduous

   Det var tungt arbete

   It was heavy work

3. important, major

   Hon spelar en tung roll i stiftelsen

   She plays an important role in the foundation

4. (slang) phat

   ett tungt beat

   a phat beat

Usage notes

The comparative tungare, superlative attribute tungaste and superlative predicative tungast are nonstandard.

Declension

References

• tung in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• tung in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tung in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• ungt

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 縱.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

tung

1. to toss, to throw

See also