singe
/sɪnd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.43 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To remove the nap of (cloth), by passing it rapidly over a red-hot bar, or over a flame, preliminary to dyeing it.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "made combustible by Flame They treat of, we have pretty Game, For they their own Tail Singe, to save Us"
- "Then ſange Iudith this ſonge vnto the LORDE: Begynne vnto the LORDE vpon the tabrettes, ſinge vnto the LORDE vpon the cymbals."
- "Lo I the man, whoſe Muſe whilome did maske, / As time her taught in lowly Sheapards weeds, / Am now enforſt a far unfitter taske, / For trumpets ſterne to change mine oaten reeds, / And ſinge of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds[…]"
- "[H]ere’s a couple of Syrenicall raſcals ſhall inchaunt yee: What ſhall they ſinge my good Lorde?"
Etymology
From Middle English sengen, from Old English senġan, sænċġan (“to singe, burn slightly, scorch, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *sangijan (“to burn, torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *senk- (“to burn”). Cognate with West Frisian singe, sinzje (“to singe”), Saterland Frisian soange (“to singe”), Dutch zengen (“to singe, scorch”), German Low German sengen (“to singe”), German sengen (“to singe, scorch”), Icelandic sangur (“singed, burnt, scorched”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: sengen, senġan, *sangijan, *senk-
Usage
Inflected Forms
singes (present, singular)
singeing (participle, present)
singed (participle, past)
singed (past)
singes (plural)
singing (participle, present)
sange (past)
sunge (participle, past)