Stang

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. In some regional English dialects, the past tense of sting, meaning pierced or pricked by a sharp point ; a long wooden pole or shaft used in farm work or as a cart part
2. A dialect past form of sting, describing something that had pierced with a painful point ; a rural term for a long pole, bar or shaft of wood
3. Dialect past tense of the verb sting, used when something had caused a sharp pain ; a regional word for a slender pole or bar, often of timber

Etymology: "Stang" is a word with two separate roots that happen to look alike. The noun traces back through Middle English "stang" or "stong" to Old Norse "stǫng," meaning a pole or bar, and ultimately to a Proto-Germanic form meaning simply "bar" or "rod." Its distant ancestor is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to stick, sting, prick, be stiff," which also gave English words for sharp, piercing things. The sense of a long, stiff piece of wood or metal is the thread that connects the word's uses from ancient northern Germanic speech onward. The verb is a separate story. It comes from Middle English "stangen," borrowed from Old Norse "stanga," meaning to prick or goad. A goad is a pointed stick used to drive animals forward, so the verb carries that original sense of jabbing or pricking. The two words share a Norse connection and a sense of sharpness, but they entered English along different routes and were not formed from one another.

Synonyms: pole, staff, stake, shaft