Etymograph

English

hang

Hang comes from Middle English hangen, a fusion of Old English hōn ‘to hang’ and hangian ‘to hang, depend’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hangen1‘to hang’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1611hang1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hang
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “It is impossible but that offences will come: but…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hangenWiktionary, English hang‘to hang’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1611hangWiktionary, English hang. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “It is impossible but that offences will come: but…”

The story

From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”, transitive verb) and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”, intransitive verb), respectively from the transitive verb Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han and the intransitive verb *hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (‘to suspend’) and hanga (‘to be suspended’); all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną and *hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk- (‘to waver, be in suspense’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Explore everything descended from hangen →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

verb To be or remain suspended.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hang”. 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 / Middle English hangen / hang