# pang

> English word · Noun · IPA /pæŋ/ · frequency rank #25,163

## Definitions
1. A paroxysm of extreme physical pain or anguish; a feeling of sudden and transitory agony; a throe.
2. A sudden sharp feeling of an emotional or mental nature, as of joy or sorrow.

## Etymology
The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly derived from Middle English *pange, perhaps an altered form of prange, prōnge (“affliction, agony, pain; pointed instrument”) as in prongys of deth (“pangs of death, death throes”), from Anglo-Latin pronga, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with Middle Dutch prange, pranghe (“instrument for pinching”) (modern Dutch prang (“horse restraint; fetter, neck iron”)), Middle Low German prange (“pole, stake; (possibly) kind of pillory or stocks”), Old English pyngan (“to prick”). The word may thus be related to prong.
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **PG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pg)
- **pay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pay)
- **pen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pen)
- **pin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pin)
- **pat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pat)
- **par** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-par)
- **pig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pig)
- **pas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pas)
- **pun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pun)
- **peg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-peg)
- **paw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-paw)
- **png** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-png)
- **PSG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-psg)
- **pax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pax)
- **pap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pap)
- **Paz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-paz)
- **pug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pug)
- **pao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pao)
- **PPG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-ppg)
- **pau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pang-vs-pau)

## Common misspellings (6)
`apng`, `pagn`, `pangg`, `panng`, `pnag`, `ppang`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pang