Etymograph

English

rung

Rung comes from Old English hrung ‘a rung’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ- ‘to twist, bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)krengʰ-1‘to twist, bend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrungō2‘stake, spoke, rod, spike, rung’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrungu2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrung2‘a rung’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rung2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1854rung2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hrungō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rung
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Feathertop: a Moralized Legend: “One of its arms was a disabled flail which…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)krengʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hrungō‘to twist, bend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrungōWiktionary, English rung‘stake, spoke, rod, spike, rung’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrunguWiktionary, English rungreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrungWiktionary, English rung‘a rung’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rungWiktionary, English rung
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1854rungWiktionary, English rung. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Feathertop: a Moralized Legend: “One of its arms was a disabled flail which…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ- ‘to twist, bend’

range, ring, rang, 1 more

Today it means

noun A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rung”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *hrungō. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ- / rung

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