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sing

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "sing"

English

Etymology

From Middle English singen, from Old English singan (“to sing”), from Proto-West Germanic *singwan, from Proto-Germanic *singwaną (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- (“to recite, sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian sjunge (“to sing”), West Frisian sjonge (“to sing”), Dutch zingen (“to sing”), German Low German singen (“to sing”), German singen (“to sing”), Danish synge (“to sing”), Swedish sjunga (“to sing”), Icelandic syngja (“to sing”), Ancient Greek ὀμφή (omphḗ, “voice, oracle”).

Recorded singing from a person.

Pronunciation

Verb

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, 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. (ambitransitive) 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], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, 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, University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 7 July 2022:
      [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.’
  12. (slang, archaic) To yell or shout.
    • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
      I took my flogging like a stone. If I had sung, some of the convicts would have given me some lush with a locust in it (laudanum hocussing), and when I was asleep would have given me a crack on the head that would have laid me straight.

Conjugation

More information infinitive, present tense ...

† Archaic or obsolete. 1 Dialectal.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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

See also

Anagrams

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch zingen.

Pronunciation

Verb

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

  1. to sing

Derived terms

  • gesonge (verbal adjective)

German

Pronunciation

Verb

sing

  1. singular imperative of singen

Hungarian

Iu Mien

Maltese

Old English

Zou

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