English
singing
Singing comes from Middle English syngyng ‘singing’, from singen ‘to sing’ + -ing.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500singen
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500syngyng‘singing’
- Englishearliest quotation 1888singing
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500singen
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500syngyng‘singing’
- Englishearliest quotation 1888singing
Earliest quotation: 1888, Rudyard Kipling, The Phantom Rickshaw: “I was aware that some one, apparently at a…”
Formed from sing + -ing
Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- ‘to recite’
Proto-Germanic *singwaną ‘to sing’
Proto-West Germanic *singwan ‘to sing’
Old English singan ‘to sing’
Middle English singen ‘to produce chants or other sung verse’
English sing
Linked words
through Middle English singen
Today it means
noun The act of using the voice to produce musical sounds; vocalizing.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English singen / singing