thong

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun leather strip that forms the flexible part of a whip
  2. noun underpants resembling a G-string; worn by women especially under very tight pants
  3. noun a thin strip of leather; often used to lash things together

Etymology

From Middle English thong, thwong, thwang, from Old English þwong, þwang (“thong, band, strap, cord, strip of leather; phylactery”), from Proto-West Germanic *þwangi, from Proto-Germanic *þwangiz, *þwanguz (“coercion, constraint, band, clamp, strap”), from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to squeeze, press, pressure”). Cognate with Scots thwang, thwayng, thang (“thong”), Middle Low German dwenge (“clamp, jaws, steel-trap”), German Zwinge (“vise, clamp”), Danish tvinge (“clamp”), dialectal Norwegian tveng (“shoestrap, shoelace”), Icelandic þvengur (“strap, thong, latchet”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

lash

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