Ring

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪŋ/

Definitions

1. A circular band worn typically on a finger as jewelry ; a resonant sound produced by a bell or similar object ; an organized group involved in a specific activity, often secretive or illicit
2. A round metal band commonly used as adornment for fingers ; the clear, typically melodic noise made when a bell is struck ; a collective or network of people engaged in a shared pursuit or operation, sometimes unlawful
3. A closed loop of metal or other material used for decoration or symbolism on a digit ; the distinctive chime or tonal vibration emitted by bells or alarms ; a structured association or group of individuals collaborating, sometimes covertly or criminally

Etymology: The ring you wear on a finger and the ring a mathematician studies share a surprisingly close history, though the mathematical sense is a far more recent coinage. The finger band comes from Old English "hring," meaning a circle or ring of any kind, which is also the source of "rank" and "rink" through a different path. Its Germanic relatives, such as Dutch "ring" and German "Ring," keep the same basic sense of something that loops back on itself. The mathematical meaning arrived much later. German mathematician David Hilbert coined the German "Zahlring," meaning "ring of numbers," in 1892, and English shortened it to the familiar term. It first appeared in English in 1930, in a paper by E. T. Bell titled "Rings whose elements are ideals." Today a mathematician might write the symbol ℤ to denote the ring of integers, a use that sits oddly far from anything on a hand.

Synonyms: circle, band, loop

Antonyms: straight line, square