▪ I. sang, n.1 Sc. and north.
(sæŋ)
[Of obscure origin: cf. Sam n.1 2.]
Used in the asseverative phrase (by) my sang; also shortened to sang.
| 1787 Grose Provinc. Gloss., Sang is't, indeed it is. N. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 87 But by my sang! now gin we meet, We'll hae a tramp right clever. 1894 A. Robertson Nuggets, etc. 70 ‘Ma sang!’ said McKeel, ‘ye've come to the richt shop.’ |
▪ II. sang, n.2
(sæŋ)
U.S. colloq. abbrev. of ginseng.
| 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. xxvii. 256 The store⁓keeper was obliged to book the nine and a quarter cents, to be paid in ‘sang’. 1886 Harper's Mag. June 58/2 Formerly, digging ‘sang’, as they call ginseng, was a general occupation. 1897 W. E. Barton Sim Galloway's Daughter-in-Law 20 The sang was short this year. 1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 32 He spent some time digging ginseng, or ‘sang’ as they called it. 1978 Nat. Parks & Conservation Mag. Feb. 18/1 Hunters of ‘sang’, as ginseng is known in Virginia and West Virginia, can tell..exciting stories about finding the ‘big root’ or ‘patch’. |
| attrib. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 379 Sang-hoe, the implement used in gathering ginseng. 1878 C. B. Coale Life & Adventures Wilburn Waters xxi. 124 These hill-sides are a godsend to ‘sang-diggers’. 1899 M. G. Kains Ginseng 31 The average ‘sang’ digger has very little conscience. 1927 K. Eubank Horse & Buggy Days 53 The trail of death which lasted for twenty years started over the ownership of a ‘sang-digger’ hog. 1949 J. Nelson Backwoods Teacher xxii. 233 Thar I was in them deep woods huntin' sang roots. 1975 C. Bogue in E. Wigginton Foxfire 3 247 A man could go ‘sang’ hunting and return with a fortune. |
Hence as v. intr., to gather ginseng; ˈsanging vbl. n.
| 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 282 Sang,..is or was also used in Virginia as a verb; to go a sanging, is to be engaged in gathering ginseng. 1859 Ibid. (ed. 2) 379 In Alleghany Co., Maryland, is Sang Run near which is a well-known ‘sanging ground’. 1877 Field & Forest III. 40 Why, I have sanged all over it [sc. the mountain]. 1892 J. L. Allen Blue-Grass Region of Kentucky 249 In the wildest parts of the country..entire families may still be seen ‘out sangin’. 1975 C. Bogue in E. Wigginton Foxfire 3 247 With some domestic sale, as well as a continuing foreign market, ‘sanging’ became a business. |
▪ III. ‖ sang, n.3
(sʌŋ)
Also srang; pl. sang, (anglicized) -s.
[Tibetan s(r)ang ounce.]
A former Tibetan unit of currency, consisting of 100 sho; a coin or note of this value.
| 1902 S. C. Das Journey to Lhasa & Central Tibet vii. 182 The Government revenue for each kang is, on an average, fifty srang (125 rupees), or about one hundred and fifty khal of grain. 1947 Whitaker's Almanack 886/2 The present currency [of Tibet] is reckoned in sangs... The 1939 value was about 8 sangs = 1 rupee. 1962 R. A. G. Carson Coins 545 Since 1935 on various srang values in silver..has been the lion with a background of mountains. 1962 L. Davidson Rose of Tibet ix. 174 The current yuan went 330 to the Tibetan sang: the sang six and a half to the rupee. 1970 R. D. Taring Daughter of Tibet xviii. 242 Thubtenla lent me six hundred sangs (about {pstlg}6). 1974 D. Norbu Red Star over Tibet ii. 36 His profits and premium from Chang Thang amounted to 600 sang. |
▪ IV. sang
var. sheng1.