English
gong
Gong comes from Malay gong.
- Malaymoderngong
- Englishearliest quotation 1869same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Malaymoderngong
- Englishearliest quotation 1869same form
Earliest quotation: 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago: “All the time six or eight large Chinese gongs…”
The story
Borrowed from Malay gong (possibly onomatopoeic).
Every English word from Malay gong
Another origin of gong
- Mandarinmodern功gōng‘merit’
- Englishtodaygong
Today it means
noun A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a loud resonant sound when struck with a soft hammer.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Malay gong / gong