# sing
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English singen, from Old English singan, from Proto-West Germanic *singwan, from Proto-Germanic *singwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ-. Cognate with German singen (“to sing”) and Danish synge (“to sing”).

### Pronunciation

* enPR: sĭng; IPA: /sɪŋ/
** Audio (UK):(file)
** Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪŋ

### Verb

sing (third-person singular simple present sings, present participle singing, simple past sang, past participle sung or (archaic) sungen)
* (intransitive) To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice.
    "I really want to sing in the school choir," said Vera.
* (intransitive) To perform a vocal part in a musical composition, regardless of technique.
* (transitive) To express audibly by means of a harmonious vocalization.
    sing a lullaby
** 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion‎, page 266:In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
* (transitive) To soothe with singing.
    to sing somebody to sleep
* (ambitransitive) Of birds, to vocalise:
** (ornithology) To produce a 'song', for the purposes of defending a breeding territory or to attract a mate.
** (literary) To produce any type of melodious vocalisation.
*** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXI, page 36:⁠I do but sing because I must, And pipe but as the linnets sing: And unto one her note is gay, ⁠For now her little ones have ranged; ⁠And unto one her note is changed, Because her brood is stol’n away.
*** 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 68:The evening was still very warm, and the birds in the woods were singing in praise of spring.
* (intransitive, slang) To confess under interrogation.
* (intransitive) To make a small, shrill sound.
    The air sings in passing through a crevice.
    a singing kettle
** 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:O'er his head the flying spear / Sang innocent, and spent its force in air.
* To relate in verse; to celebrate in poetry.
** 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book II (Pleasure), page 468:Again I bid the mournful Goddeſs write / The fond Purſuit of fugitive Delight: / Bid her exalt her melancholy Wing, / And rais'd from Earth, and ſav'd from Paſſion, ſing / Of human Hope by croſs Event deſtroyed, / Of uſeleſs Wealth, and Greatneſs unenjoy'd, […]
** 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.
* (intransitive) To display fine qualities; to stand out as excellent.
    The sauce really makes this lamb sing.
** 2022 July 7, Sonia Fernandez, “‘Out of the Starting Gate’”, in The Current‎, University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 2022-07-07:[Alissa Monte said] “This result was all about demonstrating that LZ [the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment] works, and it does! As we take more data and mature our analyses, we get to make LZ sing. […] ”
* (ergative) To be capable of being sung; to produce a certain effect by being sung.
** 1875, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 118, page 685:No song sings well unless it is open-vowelled, and has the rhythmic stress on the vowels. Tennyson's songs, for instance, are not generally adapted to music.
* (Australia) In traditional Aboriginal culture, to direct a supernatural influence on (a person or thing), usually malign; to curse. [from 19th c.]
** 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 343:‘We sung them two real good. We never give Louis Beck no place to find rest from his torment.’

#### Conjugation

$^†$ Archaic or obsolete. $^1$ Dialectal.

#### Synonyms

* (confess under interrogation): See also Thesaurus:confess and Thesaurus:rat out

#### Derived terms

* all-singing all-dancing
* all-singing-and-dancing
* besing
* foresing
* go sing
* mis-sing
* New Guinea singing dog
* overtone singing
* part singing
* scat singing
* sight sing
* sing a different tune
* sing along, sing-along
* singer
* sing for one's supper
* sing from the same hymnal
* sing from the same hymnbook
* sing from the same hymn sheet
* singing
* singing chambermaid
* singing cowboy
* singing dog
* singing fish
* singing flame
* singing girl
* singing ground
* singing hinny
* singing sand
* singing saw
* singing soprano
* singing telegram
* singing voice
* sing Kumbaya
* sing like a bird
* sing like a canary
* sing off the same hymn sheet
* sing out
* sing small
* singsong
* sing soprano
* sing the praises
* sing the praises of
* sing the same tune
* sing up
* throat singing

#### Related terms

* song

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

sing (plural sings)
* The act, or event, of singing songs.
    I sometimes have a quick sing in the shower.
** 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 55:Then all three would go off in search of the first, give it a good talking to and maybe a bit of a sing as well.
** 2002, Martha Mizell Puckett, Hoyle B. Puckett, Memories of a Georgia Teacher: Fifty Years in the Classroom, page 198:Some of the young folks asked Mrs. Long could they have a sing at her home that Sunday afternoon; she readily agreed, telling them to come early, bring their songbooks, and have a good sing.
** 2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 287:'Ah, yes, Miss Fisher, have you had a nice sing?'

#### Derived terms

* sing-in
* singjay
* sing-off
* singsong

### See also

* jook-sing
* singe
* sing-sing

### Anagrams

* IGNs, Ings, NGIs, gins, ings, nigs, sign, snig

## Afrikaans
### Etymology

From Dutch zingen.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /səŋ/
* Audio:(file)

### Verb

sing (present sing, present participle singende, past participle gesing)
* to sing

#### Derived terms

* gesonge (verbal adjective)

## German
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Verb

sing
* singular imperative of singen

## Hungarian
### Etymology

Borrowed from German. First attested in 1368.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈʃiŋɡ]
* Rhymes: -iŋɡ

### Noun

sing (plural singek)
* (archaic) cubit (a unit of linear measure, no longer in use, originally equal to the length of the forearm)

#### Derived terms

* singcsont

### References

* ↑ sing in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)

### Further reading

* sing in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## Iu Mien
### Etymology

From Chinese 聲 (MC syeng).

### Noun

sing
* sound

## Maltese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Sicilian singu.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɪnk/

### Noun

sing m (plural singi or snug)
* line
    Synonyms: linja, ħatt
* dash, hyphen
    Synonym: linjetta

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sinɡ/, [siŋɡ]

### Verb

sing
* singular imperative of singan

## Zou
### Etymology 1

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *thiiŋ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kjaŋ. Cognates include Burmese ချင်း (hkyang:) and Chinese 薑 / 姜 (jiāng).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /siŋ˧˥/

#### Noun

síng
* ginger

### Etymology 2

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *thiŋ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *siŋ. Cognates include Burmese သစ် (sac) and Chinese 薪 (xīn).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /siŋ˧˥/

#### Noun

síng
* tree

### References

* Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 45