thong

English Online Dictionary. What means thong‎? What does thong mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English thong, thwong, thwang, from Old English þwong, þwang, þweng, þwæng (“thong, band, strap, cord, strip of leather; phylactery”), from Proto-West Germanic *þwangi, from Proto-Germanic *þwangiz, *þwanguz (“coercion, constraint, band, clamp, strap”), from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to squeeze, press, pressure”). Cognate with Scots thwang, thwayng, thang (“thong”), Middle Low German dwenge (“clamp, jaws, steel-trap”), German Zwinge (“vise, clamp”), Danish tvinge (“clamp”), dialectal Norwegian tveng (“shoestrap, shoelace”), Icelandic þvengur (“strap, thong, latchet”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: thŏng, IPA^(key): /θɒŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /θɔŋ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /θɑŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɒŋ

Noun

thong (plural thongs)

1. A strip of leather.
2. (usually in the plural, Australia) An item of footwear, usually of rubber, secured by two straps which join to pass between the big toe and its neighbour.
   • 2006, Peter Murray, David Poole, Grant Jones, Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behaviour, Thomson, page 108,

     Players turned up for questioning wearing thongs, shorts and T-shirts.
3. (UK, US) An item of clothing, usually an undergarment or swimwear consisting of very narrow strips designed to cover just the genitals and nothing more.

4. The largest section of a bullwhip constructed of many straps of braided leather.

Synonyms

• (an item of footwear): see list in flip-flop
• (an undergarment or swimwear): G-string, butt floss

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• sandal

Kokborok

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Noun

thong

1. pillar

Middle English

Alternative forms

• thwong, thwang

Etymology

From Old English þwang, from Proto-West Germanic *þwangi, from Proto-Germanic *þwangiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɔnɡ/

Noun

thong (plural thonges)

1. A strip cut from a piece of leather.

Derived terms

• keythong (possibly)
• sho þuong
• thongly
• þongcastre

Descendants

• English: thong
• Scots: thwang, thwayng, thang
• Yola: fong

References

• “thong, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.