Etymograph

English

belong

Belong comes from Middle English belongen, from be- + longen ‘to be fitting’, from Old English langian ‘to pertain to’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150langian1‘to pertain to’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500longen1‘to be fitting’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500belongen1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1878belong1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English belong
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, James Francis Cobb: “Ah! this is the elder of the two -…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150langianWiktionary, English belong‘to pertain to’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500longenWiktionary, English belong‘to be fitting’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500belongenWiktionary, English belong
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1878belongWiktionary, English belong. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, James Francis Cobb: “Ah! this is the elder of the two -…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with belong, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Germanic *langōną ‘to desire’

  • longing ← longynge ← langiende ← *langōndz

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To have its proper place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “belong”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English langian / belong