English
sing-off
From sing + -off.
Formed from sing + -off
Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- ‘to recite’
Proto-Germanic *singwaną ‘to sing’
Proto-West Germanic *singwan ‘to sing’
Old English singan ‘to sing’
Middle English singen ‘to produce chants or other sung verse’
English sing
Today it means
noun A competition between two or more singers where each tries to do better than the last.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sing-off”. 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 / sing-off