ˈear-ring, earring
Also 1 ear-hring, 5 aryng, 6 earing(e, eare ryng(e.
[f. ear n.1]
1. A ring worn in the lobe of the ear for ornament; often used for a pendant or ‘drop.’
| c 1000 ælfric Exod. xxxii. 2 Nymaþ ᵹyldene ear-hringas of eower wifa earon. 1468 Medulla Gram. in Cath. Angl. 45 Inauris, þe Aryng in the ere. 1535 Coverdale Judg. viii. 24 For in so moch as y⊇ men were Ismaelites, they had earinges. ― Ezek. xvi. 12, I put..eare rynges vpon thyne eares. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 454, I send your honour two earerings. a 1643 G. Sandys (J.) They..gave the precious earrings that they wore. 1701 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. xliv. 18 Her earrings..were two diamonds shaped exactly like pears. 1814 Scott Wav. xviii, A pair of gold ear-rings. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. xi. 174 The lifeless frame, dressed as became a war⁓chief, glittered with belts, and ear-rings. |
2. dial. The common fuchsia. (Britten and Holland.)