Origin and history of tang

mid-14c., tang, tonge, "serpent's tongue" (thought to be a stinging organ), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse tangi "spit of land; pointed end by which a blade is driven into a handle; sting of a scorpion or bee; fang of a serpent; prong-like tongue of a demon; pungency of flavor," which is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *tang-, from PIE *denk- "to bite" (see tongs).

It was used later in English as in Old Norse of other long, projecting parts, such as "portion of a metal blade that extends into the handle" of a sword, knife, chisel, etc. (1680s). Influenced in some senses by tongue (n.). The meaning "sting of an insect or reptile" lingered in provincial English.

The figurative sense of "a sharp taste, pungency of flavor" is recorded by mid-15c. (for sense evolution, compare piquant, pungent, sharp (adj.), acrid, etc.; there are similar evolutions in the Dutch and German cognates); that of "suggestion, trace" is from 1590s. The fish (1734) are so called for their spines.

As a verb, Middle English tangen, "to bite" (of a serpent); "to pierce" (of an arrow), c. 1400, from the noun.

1540s, "strike a bell," imitative. By c. 1600 as "utter a ringing tone;" as a noun, 1660s, "a tanging sound." Related: Tanged; tanging.