Etymograph

English

fang

Fang comes from Old English fengtōþ ‘molar tooth’, from fōn ‘to catch, take, seize’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fanhaną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fanhaną‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fą̄han‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fōn‘to catch, take, seize’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fengtōþ‘molar tooth’preterite of fōn
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*fangtoothreconstructed
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1722fang

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fanhaną‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fą̄han‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fōn‘to catch, take, seize’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fengtōþ‘molar tooth’preterite of fōn
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*fangtoothreconstructed
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1722fang

Earliest quotation: 1722, Ambrose Philips: “chariots fang'd with scythes”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘secure, attach, strengthen’

peace, fair, pace, pact, repay, pax, pacifist, fay, pacifism, pogue, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *fanhaną ‘to take, to seize’

gaffe, 2 more

through Old English fōn ‘to catch, take, seize’

vang, 2 more

Another origin of fang

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to attach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fanhaną‘to catch, capture’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fōn‘to take, grasp, seize, catch, capture, make prisoner, receive, accept, assume, undertake’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fangen
  5. Englishtodayfang

Another origin of fang

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to attach’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fanhaną‘to catch, capture’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fangą‘catch, catching, seizure’uncertain
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350fang‘catch’uncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fang‘grasp, catch’uncertain
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fang
  7. Englishtodayfang

From Middle English fang, possibly from Old English fang, feng (‘grasp, catch’); alternatively borrowed from Old Norse fang (‘catch’) or formed anew from the verb fangen, all from Proto-Germanic *fangą (‘catch, catching, seizure’), from the verb *fanhaną (‘to catch, capture’), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (‘to attach’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. 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”).

Today it means

noun A long, pointed canine tooth used for biting and tearing flesh.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fanhaną / fang