Etymograph

English

ring

Ring comes from Old English hring ‘ring, circle’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)krengʰ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hringaz1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hring1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hring1‘ring’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ryng1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598ring1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ring
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “The dearest ring in Venice will I give you.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)krengʰ-Wiktionary, English ringreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hringazWiktionary, English ringreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hringWiktionary, English ringreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hringWiktionary, English ring‘ring’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ryngWiktionary, English ring
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598ringWiktionary, English ring. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “The dearest ring in Venice will I give you.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-

rung, harangue

through Proto-Germanic *hringaz

range, rank, rang, rink, 1 more

Another origin of ring

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hringijaną‘to ring’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hringijanreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrinġan‘to ring’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ryngen‘to ring’
  5. Englishtodayring

Another origin of ring

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentZahlring‘ring of numbers’
  2. Englishtodayring

From a shortening of German Zahlring (‘ring of numbers’), coined by German mathematician David Hilbert in 1892.

Today it means

noun A circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring, finger ring etc.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ- / ring

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