Wordwyrt

stinger

/ˈstɪŋə/STIH-ngur
/ˈstɪŋɚ/STIH-ngur

Meaningone that pierces

Common meaning: a person or thing that stings

Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*stig-‘stick or pierce, to sting, prick’source
  2. Old EnglishstingansourceB&T
  3. Middle Englishstingensource
  4. Englishsting‘to prick painfully’
  5. Englishformed in English from stingstinger‘a person or thing that stings’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: one that pierces. It can be inferred from any of: sting.

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from sting + -er (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Source words

  • stingan Old English · source word “piercing”

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