Etymograph

English

song

Song comes from Old English sang, from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz ‘singing, song’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sangwaz1‘singing, song’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sangu1‘singing’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sang1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500song1‘song’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1568song1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English song
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh]: “The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sangwazWiktionary, English song‘singing, song’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sanguWiktionary, English song‘singing’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sangWiktionary, English song
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500songWiktionary, English song‘song’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1568songWiktionary, English song. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh]: “The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Germanic *singwaną ‘to sing’

  • sing ← singen ← singan ← *singwan

Explore everything descended from *sangwaz →

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Today it means

noun A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices, performed by singing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “song”. 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-Germanic *sangwaz / song