Etymograph

English

stinging

Stinging comes from Middle English styngen ‘to pierce or stab’, from Proto-West Germanic *stingan ‘to stick out’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stinganą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stinganą‘to stick out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stingan‘to stick out’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stingan‘to stab’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500styngen‘to pierce or stab’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500styngyngeas styngyng
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1892stinging

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stinganą‘to stick out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stingan‘to stick out’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stingan‘to stab’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500styngen‘to pierce or stab’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500styngyngeas styngyng
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1892stinging

Earliest quotation: 1892, James Yoxall: “The desert storm was riding in its strength; the…”

Formed from sting + -ing

Proto-Germanic *stingaz

Old English sting ‘a sting, stab, thrust made with a pointed…’

Middle English styng ‘a sting’

English sting

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *stengʰ- ‘to be stiff, sting’

stang, 1 more

Today it means

adj Having the capacity to sting.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *stinganą / stinging

Shirt and support for this word