Word: tongue Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English tongue, a late spelling of tong(e), tung(e), from Old English tunge, from Proto-West Germanic *tungā (“tongue”), from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ (“tongue”), from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue”). Cognate with Dutch tong (“tongue”), German Zunge (“tongue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tunge (“tongue”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish tunga (“tongue”), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍉 (tuggō, “tongue”), Irish teanga (“tongue”), Asturian and Catalan llengua (“tongue”), Aragonese luenga (“tongue”), French langue (“tongue”), Galician, Italian, and Latin lingua (“tongue”), Leonese llingua (“tongue”), Mirandese lhéngua (“tongue”), Portuguese língua (“tongue”), Spanish lengua (“tongue”), Belarusian and Russian язык (jazyk, “tongue”), Bulgarian ези́к (ezík, “tongue”), Czech and Slovak jazyk (“tongue”), Macedonian јазик (jazik, “tongue”), Polish język (“tongue”), Serbo-Croatian jèzik (“tongue”), Slovene jézik (“tongue”), Ukrainian язи́к (jazýk, “tongue”), Persian زبان (zabân, “tongue”), Sanskrit जि॒ह्वा (jihvā́, “tongue”). Doublet of langue and lingua. The expected modern spelling, both phonetically and etymologically, would be tung. Using ⟨on⟩ for ⟨un⟩ was fairly common in Middle English; compare e.g. yong (“young”). The final ⟨gue⟩ arose to prevent tonge being misread with a soft /dʒ/. However, this spelling only became common at a time when the final ⟨e⟩ was already largely silent, so it is not clear why it was not simply dropped instead. Perhaps the spelling was influenced directly by French langue (“tongue”). Pronunciation: /tʌŋ/, /tʊŋɡ/, /tɒŋɡ/, /tɐŋ/ 1. The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: But lering and lurking here and there like ſpies, 2. Such an organ, as taken from animals and used for food (especially from cows). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: cold tongue with mustard Example: However you eat them, tongue and chicken and new bread are very good things, and no one minds being sprinkled a little with soda-water on a really fine hot day. 3. Any similar organ, such as the lingual ribbon, or odontophore, of a mollusk; the proboscis of a moth or butterfly; or the lingua of an insect. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. A language. Labels: countable, metonymically, uncountable Example: He was speaking in his native tongue. Example: […] that great Towre, which is so much renownd For tongues confusion in holie writ, 5. The speakers of a language, collectively. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 6. A voice, (the distinctive sound of a person's speech); accent (distinctive manner of pronouncing a language). Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: Who are you? Tell me, for more certainty, Albeit I’ll swear that I do know your tongue. Example: [...] one of [the prisoners], whom by his tongue I knew to be a Scotchman, lamented most piteously [...] 7. A manner of speaking, often habitually. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: She can have a sharp tongue when she's annoyed. Example: Al maters wel pondred and wel to be regarded, How ſhuld a fals lying tung then be rewarded? 8. A person speaking in a specified manner. Labels: countable, plural-normally, uncountable Example: I know that we must keep apart for a long while; cruel tongues would force us apart, if nothing else did. Example: […] it was obvious to his listeners that Pittypat, in his mind, was still a plump and charming miss of sixteen who must be sheltered against evil tongues. 9. The power of articulate utterance; speech generally. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: I was so overwhelmed my tongue deserted me. Example: Parrots imitating Human Tongue 10. Discourse; the fluency of speech or expression. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable 11. Discourse; fluency of speech or expression. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: [...] fellows, soldiers, friends, Better consider what you have to do Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue, Can lift your blood up with persuasion. Example: Much Tongue, and much Judgment seldom go together, for Talking and Thinking are Two Quite Differing Faculties, 12. Honorable discourse; eulogy. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: She was born noble; let that title find her A private grave, but neither tongue nor honour! 13. Glossolalia. Labels: countable, in-plural, often, uncountable Example: Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 14. In a shoe, the flap of material that goes between the laces and the foot (so called because it resembles a tongue in the mouth). Labels: countable, uncountable Example: I caught a glimpse of a brown boot, the tongue flapping, the sole tied on with string. Example: [...] her low-heeled shoes had flat fringed tongues to them—the kind of shoes you expected to see on a golf-course, or a Scottish highland, somewhere expensively hearty like that. 15. Any large or long physical protrusion on an automotive or machine part or any other part that fits into a long groove on another part. Labels: countable, uncountable 16. A projection, or slender appendage or fixture. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the tongue of a buckle, or of a balance 17. A long, narrow strip of land, projecting from the mainland into a sea or lake. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: On one side was a coral reef; on the other a low tongue of land, covered with mangrove thickets that grew out into the water. 18. The pole of a towed or drawn vehicle or farm implement (e.g., trailer, cart, plow, harrow), by which it is pulled; for example, the pole of an ox cart, to the end of which the oxen are yoked. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Far to the right, where the main pile sloped out, his cart reared tongue upward, like a plow. 19. The clapper of a bell. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve: Example: [...] the bell clanged so loud that he could hear the iron tongue clapping against the metal sides each time it swung to and fro [...] 20. An individual point of flame from a fire. Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: Then up a steep and dark and narrow stair We wound, until the torches’ fiery tongue Amid the gushing day beamless and pallid hung. Example: Now, in this decadent age the art of fire-making had been altogether forgotten on the earth. The red tongues that went licking up my heap of wood were an altogether new and strange thing to Weena. 21. A small sole (type of fish). Labels: countable, uncountable 22. A short piece of rope spliced into the upper part of standing backstays, etc.; also, the upper main piece of a mast composed of several pieces. Labels: countable, uncountable 23. A reed. Labels: countable, uncountable 24. A division of formation; A layer or member of a formation that pinches out in one direction. Labels: countable, uncountable 25. The middle protrusion of a triple-tailed flag. Labels: countable, uncountable