Wiktionary

song

See also: Song, song-, söng, sōng, sǒng, sòng, sông, and sổng

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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From Middle English song, sang, from Old English sang, from Proto-West Germanic *sangu, from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz (“singing, song”), from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- (“to sing”). Cognate with Scots sang, song (“singing, song”), Saterland Frisian Song (“song”), West Frisian sang (“song”), Dutch zang (“song”), Low German sang (“song”), German Sang (“singing, song”), Swedish sång (“song”), Norwegian Bokmål sang (“song”), Norwegian Nynorsk song (“song”), Icelandic söngur (“song”), Ancient Greek ὀμφή (omphḗ, “voice, oracle”). More at sing.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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song (countable and uncountable, plural songs)

  2. A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices, performed by singing.
    Thomas listened to his favorite song on the radio yesterday.
    • 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton, edited by J[ohn] S[tow], Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, →OCLC, page 290:
      The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge
    • 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.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
  3. (by extension) Any musical composition.
  4. Poetical composition; poetry; verse.
  5. The act or art of singing.
    • 1884, Spencer Leigh Hughes, “The Weather. A Short Study on a Great Subject.”, in Golden Hours: A Monthly Magazine for Family and General Reading, volume XVII, London: Lile and Fawcett, […], page 28, column 1:
      How often the enthusiast has dwelt upon the birds bursting into song, the buds bursting into flower, all nature bursting into life!—as though a state of things in which everything around us is bursting is at all pleasant.
    • 1942, Robert Peter Tristram Coffin, The Substance that is Poetry (Patten Foundation series)‎[1], Macmillan, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 71:
      Or take one that is less of an explanation and more of a song , The Spider . I knew all along what I wanted to say about a spider . I wanted to say all the good things I could . For spiders are the one order of creation that I thoroughly dislike. […]
  6. A melodious sound made by a bird, insect, whale or other animal.
    I love hearing the song of canary birds.
    • 1833, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Canterbury Pilgrims:
      That most ethereal of all sounds, the song of crickets.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 85:
      The robin alone by his soft morning song broke the silence and the solitude which reigned in the forest.
  7. (ornithology) The distinctive sound that a male bird utters to attract a mate or to protect his territory; contrasts with call; also, similar vocalisations made by female birds.
  8. A low price, especially one under the expected value; chiefly in for a song.
    He bought that car for a song.
    • 1810, Benjamin Silliman, A Journal of Travels in England, Holland and Scotland:
      his [a common soldier's] pay is a song.
    • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:
      Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; […].
  9. An object of derision; a laughing stock.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Polish: song

Translations

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sound of a bird — see birdsong
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

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Anagrams

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Atong (India)

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Etymology

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Cognate with Garo song. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

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song

  1. village

Derived terms

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References

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Bikol Central

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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song

  1. rhinoceros beetle

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Chuukese

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Adjective

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song

  1. angry

Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English song. Doublet of zang.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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song m (plural songs)

  1. song
    Synonyms: lied, liedje

Derived terms

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Faroese

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Etymology

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From Old Norse sæing (“bed”), later sæng.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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song f (genitive singular songar or seingjar, plural seingir or sengur)

  1. bed

Declension

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Declension of song
f11 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative song songin seingir, sengur seingirnar, sengurnar
accusative song songina seingir, sengur seingirnar, sengurnar
dative song songini seingjum seingjunum
genitive seingjar, songar seingjarrinar, songarinnar seingja seingjanna

Derived terms

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See also

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Garo

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

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song

  1. village, hamlet
  2. classifier for villages

Derived terms

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Mandarin

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Romanization

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song

  1. Nonstandard spelling of sōng.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of sóng.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of sǒng.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of sòng.

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English sang, song, from Proto-West Germanic *sangw, from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /sɔnɡ/, /sɔːnɡ/, /sanɡ/, /saːnɡ/

Noun

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song (plural songes)

  1. A song (lyrical music):
    1. Religious or spiritual chanting or hymns.
    2. An exposition or story, especially a sung one.
    3. A song supposed to have occult or magical power.
  2. The practice or an instance of singing songs.
  3. The sound produced by a bird (rarely other creatures)
  4. A tune; non-lyrical music.
  5. A quip, declaration, or remark.
  6. A poem; a written work in verse.

Declension

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    Declension of song
Singular Plural
nominative, accusative song songes
genitive songes songe, songes
dative songe songen

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Old Norse sǫngr. Akin to English song.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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song m (definite singular songen, indefinite plural songar, definite plural songane)

  1. song
    Kven er det som syng denne songen?
    Who sings this song?

Derived terms

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Verb

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song

  1. past of syngja and synga

References

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from English song.[1][2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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song m inan

  1. (music, theater) musical theater song, usually with social or political commentary (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)

Declension

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Declension of song
singular plural
nominative song songi
genitive songu songów
dative songowi songom
accusative song songi
instrumental songiem songami
locative songu songach
vocative songu songi

References

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  1. ^ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “song”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
  2. ^ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “song”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN

Further reading

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  • song in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • song in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Tok Pisin

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Etymology

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From English song.

Noun

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song

  1. song

Tyap

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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song

  1. dance

Verb

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song

  1. to dance

Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Vietic *k-rɔːŋ (“rush [plant]”). Cognate with Chut [Rục] kərɔːŋ¹ ("rush") and krɔːŋ ("rattan").

Noun

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(classifier cây) song • (𧄐, 𫁷, 󰓖)

  1. big rattan

Etymology 2

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Sino-Vietnamese word from 窗 (“window”).

Noun

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song • (𣙩, 漴, 牕, 窓, 窻)

  1. (archaic, literary) window
  2. Short for chấn song (“upright post in a paling or railing”).
    sau song sắt
    behind (iron) bars
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 3

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Sino-Vietnamese word from 雙 (“double; pair”).

Prefix

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song

  1. bi-; double; parallel
    song đấm
    twin punches; punches performed with both hands
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Adverb

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song

  1. (formal) however
  2. (formal) but
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Zhuang

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Etymology

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From Proto-Tai *soːŋᴬ, from Middle Chinese 雙 (MC sraewng, “two”). Cognate with Thai สอง (sɔ̌ɔng), Northern Thai ᩈᩬᨦ, Lao ສອງ (sǭng), Lü ᦉᦸᧂ (ṡoang), Tai Dam ꪎꪮꪉ, Shan သွင် (sǎung), Tai Nüa ᥔᥩᥒᥴ (sóang), Ahom 𑜏𑜨𑜂𑜫 (soṅ), Bouyei soongl.

Pronunciation

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  This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Numeral

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song (Sawndip forms 雙 or 双 or 松, 1957–1982 spelling soŋ)

  1. two
    song bak
    two hundred
    • 2008, Rint Sybesma, “Zhuang: A Tai language with some Sinitic characteristics”, in Pieter Muysken, editor, From Linguistic Areas to Areal Linguistics, page 246:
      De   fwngz   ndeu   yaeuj   ndaej   song   doengj   raemx   bae!
      3s    hand    one     raise    ACQ    two    bucket    water    PRT
      S/he can lift two buckets of water with one hand!
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

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Used with ndeu rather than it.

Synonyms

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