Sing

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /sɪŋ/

Definitions

1. To create music vocally, often in varying pitches and rhythms; to express artistic feelings through melodious sound; to emit tuneful tones that can evoke emotions or convey stories
2. To use the vocal cords to produce musical tones with pitch and rhythm
3. To create a melody by modulating the voice in a controlled and expressive way

Etymology: Some of the oldest words in English are the ones you use without thinking, and "sing" is one of them. It goes back to Old English "singan," which has been traced to a Proto-Germanic root shared with a whole family of northern European languages: Dutch "zingen," German "singen," Swedish "sjunga," and Icelandic "syngja" all mean the same thing. That family resemblance tells us the verb was already in use among the ancestors of these languages long before English was written down. Its roots reach further still. The Proto-Indo-European reconstruction is "*sengʷʰ-," meaning "to recite, sing," and the same root appears in Ancient Greek "omphē," which meant "voice" or even "oracle." So the notion of a voice carrying something meaningful is buried in the word's distant past, linking the everyday act of singing to speech with weight behind it.

Synonyms: chant, croon, warble, serenade, trill

Antonyms: silence, mumble, whisper, shout, scream