▪ I. clang, n.
(klæŋ)
Also 7 clangue.
[Found first late in 16th c.; app. formed immediately from, or in conjunction with, clang v.1 Cf. L. clangor ‘sound of a trumpet, shrill scream of birds’, which were also the earliest senses of clang. (Thence also F. clangueur, and clangueux adj. ‘loudly ringing’. Cotgr.). The Latin vb. and n. were prob. etymologically cognate with Gr. κλάζειν, κλαγγή, in same senses; but Ger. klang ‘sound, musical sound’ (MHG. klanc (klanges), OHG. chlang) is not related to these, being an echoic word which has separately arisen in German. No trace of any such word is known in OE. or ME.: see however clank. The adoption and use of clang in modern English have doubtless been greatly influenced by the echoic nature of the word, by which it is associated directly with certain sounds, independently of its derivation; cf. clang-clang, cling-clang, as imitations of the sound of a bell. From this cause also the central sense of clang has now shifted from that of L. clangor; on the other hand, some writers have used it as identical with Gr. κλαγγή or Ger. klang above mentioned.]
1. a. A loud resonant ringing sound; orig., as in Latin, that of a trumpet, and so still in literary use; but now, most characteristically, the ringing sound of metal when struck, as in ‘the clang of arms’; sometimes also the sound of a large bell.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 207 Loud larums, neighing steeds, and trumpetts clangue. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. iii. 186 The continuall clangs of trumpets and timbrels. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iii. 55 In the clang of arms To die for him whom I have lived to serve. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xxxviii, The clang of conflict on the heath. 1851 Hawthorne Snow Image, Main Street, A blacksmith makes huge clang..on his anvil. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 111 Now through the hush there broke the trumpet's clang. 1876 Green Stray Stud. 357 The clang of the city bell called every citizen to his door. |
b. Also, occasionally, in other applications, as the twang of a bow [after Gr. κλαγγή], the ringing sound of voices, the bang of a door, etc.
| 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) VII. lv. 16 The clang of dissonant languages..resounded throughout the camp. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. i. 4 Terrible was heard the clang Of that resplendent bow. |
c. fig. (Here Ger. klang ‘sound’ has often influenced the use.)
| 1660 H. More Myst. Godl. v. xvi. 196 As it was not expressed by the Root but by the Square, for concealment sake; so for the same reason not by the perfect Square, there being so smart a clang of the Root it self at the end of it. 1825 Carlyle in Froude Life (1882) I. 325 By some occasional unmelodious clang in the newspapers. 1858 Longfellow Oliver Basselin viii, The poet sang..Songs that rang Another clang. 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) V. xlii. 171 A clang of turgid extravagances. |
2. The loud harsh resonant cry or scream of certain birds. (As in Latin and Greek.)
| 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 422 And [Birds] soaring th' air sublime With clang despis'd the ground. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 108 Their [cranes'] loud Clang From Cloud to Cloud rebounds. 1871 Darwin Desc. Man II. xiii. 51 During the nocturnal migrations of geese and other waterfowl, sonorous clangs from the van may be heard..answered by clangs in the rear. |
3. Acoustics. = Ger. klang: see quot. 1867. Also, in Psychology, with reference to the acoustic sensation of musical sounds and their analysis.
| 1867 Tyndall Lect. Sound iii. §9 (1883) 115 An assemblage of tones, such as we obtain when the fundamental tone and the harmonics of a string sound together, is called by the Germans a Klang. May we not employ the English word clang to denote the same thing..and may we not..add the word colour or tint, to denote the character of the clang, using the term clang-tint as the equivalent of Klangfarbe? 1879 G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone 96 The word clang has been suggested to denote such a composite sound. All the possible partial tones are not necessarily present in a clang. 1895 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. VII. 82 Klang, clang (not chord). Ibid., Klangeinheit, clang unity or simplicity. 1901 E. B. Titchener Exper. Psychol. I. ii. ii. 75 Clang Analysis: Overtones. 1918 M. D. Eder tr. Jung's Word-Association 470 The ‘clang’ associations..in our experiment..were in the form of rhymes. Jung and Riklin consider that clangs appear when there is a decline of attention. 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind iv. 226 So-called clang-analysis, or hearing out the partial tones of a clang, has often been advanced as a striking demonstration of the existence of unnoticed sensations. 1946 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. XXXVII. 35 Useful information was obtained from the formal characteristics of the associative reactions rather than from their content—i.e. whether the association was too close (repetitions, clang reactions, etc.). |
4. Comb. clang-clang, imitation of the ringing of a bell; clang-tint, in Acoustics: see 3.
| 1867 Clang-tint [see 3.] 1877 Burnet Ear 193 The quality of a sound, also called its clang-tint or timbre. 1884 Illust. Lond. News 16 Feb. 162/3 A silence only broken by the clang-clang of the church bell. |
Hence ˈclangful a. nonce-wd. [after Ger. klangvoll], sonorous.
| 1868 G. Stephens Runic Mon. I. Introd. 20 Our own clangful Northern folk-speech. |
▪ II. clang, v.1
(klæŋ)
[app. ad. L. clang-ĕre to emit a ringing sound, as a trumpet (clangunt tubæ), to scream as an eagle or other large bird. Cf. Gr. κλάζειν, root klag-, klang-, to emit a sharp piercing sound, said of birds, dogs, arrows, the string of a bow, the wind; also of men, to scream, shriek. Some of the Eng. uses are in imitation of the Greek.]
1. intr. To emit a loud resonant ringing sound as of pieces of metal struck together, etc. In earliest use said of a trumpet.
| 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 172 By the clanging trump of swift report, proclaimed. 1603 Florio Montaigne ii. xi. (1632) 245 Armes clatter and clang. 1791 Cowper Iliad i. 59 Clang'd the cord Dread sounding [κλαγγὴ γένετ']. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. (1858) 135 The bells of St. Edmundsbury clang out. 1858 ― Fredk. Gt. (1865) II. vii. ii. 262 The fire-drums beat, the alarm-bells clanged. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xii. 169 It clanged and rattled on the floor. |
b. trans. with cognate object.
| 1850 Blackie æschylus I. 15 Loud they clanged the peal of battle. |
2. trans. To strike together with clanging sound.
| c 1720 Prior Poems (J.), The fierce Curetes..clang'd their sounding arms. 1725 Pope Odyss. ii. 176 They [eagles] wheel on high, And clang their wings. 1853 Felton Fam. Lett. x. (1865) 94 The company..clanged glasses together. |
3. intr. Of certain birds: To utter their loud harsh cry.
| 1832 L. Hunt Hero & Leander ii. 21 The Crane..Began to clang against the coming rain. 1860 Ld. Lytton Lucile i. vi. iii, The quarrelling crows Clang'd above him. |
▪ III. † clang, v.2 Obs.
[perh. originated by association of clag v. and cling v.]
trans. To clag, cause to cling, render stiff.
| 1631 Markham Weald of Kent ii. i. (1668) 11 If..five hundred loads of Marle upon the Acre, have clanged, stiffened, and too fast bound your Land. |