Where does “dung” come from?
Dung comes from Middle English ung, which likely meant animal excrement or manure based on its semantic development in English.
dung (English): Manure; animal excrement; A type of manure, as...
Definitions
- Manure; animal excrement; A type of manure, as...
Ancestry of “dung”, step by step
dung traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English dung
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dung | Alternative form of donge |
| 2 | Old English | dung | dungeon, prison; dung, manure |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *dungu | earth, dirt |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | dungō | dung, manure |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰengʰ- | to cover; to overcast |
via Vietnamese đứng
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | đứng | to stand; be still |
| 2 | Chinese | 容 | — |
Words derived from “dung”