tongue: [OE] Tongue is a general Germanic word, with relatives in German zunge, Dutch tong, Swedish tonga, and Danish tonge. These all evolved from a prehistoric Germanic *tunggōn, whose ultimate ancestor was Indo- European *dnghwā-. This also produced Latin lingua ‘tongue, language’ (source of English language, linguistic, etc), Welsh tafod ‘tongue’, Russian jazyk ‘tongue’, etc. => language, linguistic
tongue (n.)
Old English tunge "tongue, organ of speech; speech, a people's language," from Proto-Germanic *tungon (cognates: Old Saxon and Old Norse tunga, Old Frisian tunge, Middle Dutch tonghe, Dutch tong, Old High German zunga, German Zunge, Gothic tuggo), from PIE *dnghwa- (cognates: Latin lingua "tongue, speech, language," from Old Latin dingua; Old Irish tenge, Welsh tafod, Lithuanian liezuvis, Old Church Slavonic jezyku).
For substitution of -o- for -u-, see come. The spelling of the ending of the word apparently is a 14c. attempt to indicate proper pronunciation, but the result is "neither etymological nor phonetic, and is only in a very small degree historical" [OED]. In the "knowledge of a foreign language" sense in the Pentecostal miracle, from 1520s. Tongue-tied is first recorded 1520s. To hold (one's) tongue "refrain from speaking" was in Old English. Johnson has tonguepad "A great talker."
tongue (v.)
"to touch with the tongue, lick," 1680s, from tongue (n.). Earlier as a verb it meant "drive out by order or reproach" (late 14c.). Related: Tongued; tonguing.
双语例句
1. Teddy clucked his tongue like a disapproving English matron.
特迪咂了咂舌头，活像个不以为然的英国女舍监。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He stuck out his tongue and flared his nostrils.
他伸出舌头，鼻翼扇动着。
来自柯林斯例句
3. I walked over to the mirror and stuck my tongue out.
我走到镜子前面伸出舌头。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Tongue lolling, the dog came lolloping back from the forest.
那只狗伸着舌头从树林里蹒跚地跑回来。
来自柯林斯例句
5. She made a face and stuck out her tongue at him.
