sing

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See also: Sing, Sing., sing., siŋ, sîng, śing, and ṣing

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English singen, from Old English singan, from Proto-West Germanic *singwan, from Proto-Germanic *singwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ-. Cognate with German singen (“to sing”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

sing (third-person singular simple present sings, present participle singing, simple past sang, past participle sung or (archaic) sungen)

  1. (intransitive) To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice.
    "I really want to sing in the school choir," said Vera.
  2. (intransitive) To perform a vocal part in a musical composition, regardless of technique.
  3. (transitive) To express audibly by means of a harmonious vocalization.
    sing a lullaby
    • 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion‎[1], page 266:
      In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
  4. (transitive) To soothe with singing.
    to sing somebody to sleep
  5. (transitive, intransitive) Of birds, to vocalise:
    1. (ornithology) To produce a 'song', for the purposes of defending a breeding territory or to attract a mate.
    2. (literary) To produce any type of melodious vocalisation.
      • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXI, page 36:
        ⁠I do but sing because I must,
        And pipe but as the linnets sing:
        And unto one her note is gay,
        ⁠For now her little ones have ranged;
        ⁠And unto one her note is changed,
        Because her brood is stol’n away.
      • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 68:
        The evening was still very warm, and the birds in the woods were singing in praise of spring.
  6. (intransitive, slang) To confess under interrogation.
  7. (intransitive) To make a small, shrill sound.
    The air sings in passing through a crevice.
    a singing kettle
  8. To relate in verse; to celebrate in poetry.
    • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book II (Pleasure), page 468:
      Again I bid the mournful Goddeſs write / The fond Purſuit of fugitive Delight: / Bid her exalt her melancholy Wing, / And rais'd from Earth, and ſav'd from Paſſion, ſing / Of human Hope by croſs Event deſtroyed, / Of uſeleſs Wealth, and Greatneſs unenjoy'd, […]
    • 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
      Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.
  9. (intransitive) To display fine qualities; to stand out as excellent.
    The sauce really makes this lamb sing.
    • 2022 July 7, Sonia Fernandez, “‘Out of the Starting Gate’”, in The Current‎[2], University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 2022-07-07:
      [Alissa Monte said] “This result was all about demonstrating that LZ [the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment] works, and it does! As we take more data and mature our analyses, we get to make LZ sing. […] ”
  10. (ergative) To be capable of being sung; to produce a certain effect by being sung.
    • 1875, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 118, page 685:
      No song sings well unless it is open-vowelled, and has the rhythmic stress on the vowels. Tennyson's songs, for instance, are not generally adapted to music.
  11. (Australia) In traditional Aboriginal culture, to direct a supernatural influence on (a person or thing), usually malign; to curse. [from 19th c.]
    • 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 343:
      ‘We sung them two real good. We never give Louis Beck no place to find rest from his torment.’

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of sing
infinitive (to) sing
present tense past tense
1st-person singular sing sang, sung*
2nd-person singular sing, singest† sang, sung*, sangest†, sungest†
3rd-person singular sings, singeth† sang, sung*
plural sing
subjunctive sing sang, sung*
imperative sing —
participles singing sung, sungen†

†Archaic or obsolete. * Dialectal.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

sing (plural sings)

  1. The act, or event, of singing songs.
    I sometimes have a quick sing in the shower.
    • 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 55:
      Then all three would go off in search of the first, give it a good talking to and maybe a bit of a sing as well.
    • 2002, Martha Mizell Puckett, Hoyle B. Puckett, Memories of a Georgia Teacher: Fifty Years in the Classroom, page 198:
      Some of the young folks asked Mrs. Long could they have a sing at her home that Sunday afternoon; she readily agreed, telling them to come early, bring their songbooks, and have a good sing.
    • 2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 287:
      'Ah, yes, Miss Fisher, have you had a nice sing?'

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Afrikaans[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch zingen.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

sing (present sing, present participle singende, past participle gesing)

  1. to sing

Derived terms[edit]

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

sing

  1. singular imperative of singen

Hungarian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from German. First attested in 1368.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

sing (plural singek)

  1. (archaic) cubit (a unit of linear measure, no longer in use, originally equal to the length of the forearm)

Declension[edit]

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative sing singek
accusative singet singeket
dative singnek singeknek
instrumental singgel singekkel
causal-final singért singekért
translative singgé singekké
terminative singig singekig
essive-formal singként singekként
essive-modal — —
inessive singben singekben
superessive singen singeken
adessive singnél singeknél
illative singbe singekbe
sublative singre singekre
allative singhez singekhez
elative singből singekből
delative singről singekről
ablative singtől singektől
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		singé singeké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		singéi singekéi
Possessive forms of sing
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. singem singjeim
2nd person sing. singed singjeid
3rd person sing. singje singjei
1st person plural singünk singjeink
2nd person plural singetek singjeitek
3rd person plural singjük singjeik

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ sing in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)

Further reading[edit]

  • sing in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Iu Mien[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Chinese 聲 (MC syeng).

Noun[edit]

sing 

  1. sound

Maltese[edit]

Root
s-n-g
2 terms

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Sicilian singu.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

sing m (plural singi or snug)

  1. line
    Synonyms: linja, ħatt
  2. dash, hyphen
    Synonym: linjetta

Zou[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Sing (1).

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *thiiŋ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kjaŋ. Cognates include Burmese ချင်း (hkyang:) and Chinese 薑／姜 (jiāng).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

síng

  1. ginger

Etymology 2[edit]

Sing (2).

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *thiŋ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *siŋ. Cognates include Burmese သစ် (sac) and Chinese 薪 (xīn).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

síng

  1. tree

References[edit]

  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 45
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