fang
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: făng, IPA(key): /fæŋ/
- Rhymes: -æŋ
Etymology 1
From an abbreviation of fangtooth, from Middle English *fangtooth, *fengtooth, from Old English fængtōþ, fengtōþ (“canine tooth”, literally “snag-tooth, catch-tooth”). Cognate with German Fangzahn (“fang”, literally “catch-tooth”) and Dutch vangtand.
Noun
fang (plural fangs)
- a long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh
- (in snakes) a long pointed tooth for injecting venom
Translations
|
|
Verb
fang (third-person singular simple present fangs, present participle fanging, simple past and past participle fanged)
Etymology 2
From Middle English fangen, from Old English fōn (“to take, grasp, seize, catch, capture, make prisoner, receive, accept, assume, undertake, meet with, encounter”), and Old Norse fanga (“to fetch, capture”), both from Proto-Germanic *fanhaną, *fangōną (“to catch, capture”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach”). Cognate with West Frisian fange (“to catch”), Dutch vangen (“to catch”), German fangen (“to catch”), Danish fange (“to catch”), Albanian peng (“to hinder, hold captive”), Sanskrit पाशयति (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).
Verb
fang (third-person singular simple present fangs, present participle fanging, simple past and past participle fanged)
- (transitive, dialectal or archaic) To catch, capture; seize; grip; clutch; lay hold of.
- 1605, Webster, John, Northward Ho, Act 1, Scene 2:
- Gentlemen, break not the head of the peace: it's to no purpose, for he's in the law's clutches; you see he's fanged.
- c. 1605–1606, Shakespeare, William, Timon of Athens, Act 4, Scene 3:
- Destruction fang mankind.
- 1605, Webster, John, Northward Ho, Act 1, Scene 2:
- (transitive, dialectal or obsolete) To take; receive with assent; accept.
- (transitive, obsolete, as a guest) To receive with hospitality; welcome.
- (transitive, obsolete, a thing given or imposed) To receive.
- (transitive, dialectal) To receive or adopt into spiritual relation, as in baptism; be godfather or godmother to.
Synonyms
- (seize; grip; clutch): clasp, grasp, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp
- (take): land, lay hands on, score; See also Thesaurus:receive or Thesaurus:take
- (receive with hospitality): greet, welcome
- (receive): cop, get; See also Thesaurus:receive
- (adopt into spiritual relation):
Etymology 3
From Middle English fang, feng (“a catching, capture, seizing”), from Old English fang, feng (“grip, embrace, grasp, grasping, capture, prey, booty, plunder”), from Proto-Germanic *fangą, *fangiz, *fanhiz (“catch, catching, seizure”), from *fanhaną (“to catch, capture”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach”). Cognate with Scots fang (“that which is taken, capture, catch, prey, booty”), Dutch vang (“a catch”), Low German fangst (“a catch”), German Fang (“a catch, capture, booty”), Swedish fång, fångst, Icelandic fang. Related also to Latin pangere (“to solidify, drive in”), Albanian mpij (“to benumb, stiffen”), Ancient Greek πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “to stiffen, firm up”), Sanskrit पाशयति (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).
Noun
fang (plural fangs)
- (now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A grasping; capture; the act or power of seizing; hold.
- That which is seized or carried off; booty; spoils; stolen goods.
- Any projection, catch, shoot, or other thing by which hold is taken; a prehensile part or organ.
- Evelyn
- the protuberant fangs of the yucca
- Evelyn
- (mining) A channel cut in the rock, or a pipe of wood, used for conveying air.
- (rare, in the plural) Cage-shuts.
- (nautical) The coil or bend of a rope; (by extension) a noose; a trap.
- (nautical) The valve of a pump box.
Synonyms
- (stolen goods): See Thesaurus:booty
Derived terms
Catalan
Etymology
Of Germanic origin, from Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌲𐌰 (fanga, “mud, addle, mire”), from Proto-Germanic *fangō (“wetness, moisture”), from Proto-Indo-European *penk- (“mud, rot, filth”). Cognate with French fange (“mud, mire”) (from Germanic), German feucht (“moist, damp”), Dutch vocht (“moisture, humidity”), Old English fūht (“moist, damp”), Swedish fukt (“moisture, humidity”).
Danish
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse fang (“catch; embrace, hold”), from Proto-Germanic *fangą (“catch”), from Proto-Germanic *fanhaną (“to take, to seize; to catch, to capture”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fauŋk/
- Rhymes: -auŋk
Noun
fang n (genitive singular fangs, nominative plural föng)
Declension
Mandarin
Romanization
fang
Usage notes
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɑŋː/
Etymology 2
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *fangą, *fangiz, *fanhiz (“catch, catching, seizure”), from *fanhaną (“to catch, capture”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɑnɡ/, [ˈfɑŋɡ]
Declension
Scottish Gaelic
References
- Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
- “fang” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
Etymology 2
Origin uncertain