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spang

/ˈspæŋ/verb, adverb, noun

spang is a verb meaning “To set with bright points: star or spangle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-P-A-N-G and has one syllable (spang), and it appears about once in every 14 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does spang mean?

verb

  1. 1

    To set with bright points: star or spangle.

  2. 2

    To hitch; fasten.

  3. 3

    Of a flying object (such as a bullet), To strike or ricochet with a loud report.

  4. 4

    ScotlandUKTo leap; spring.

    a. 1758, Allan Ramsay, epistle to Robert Yarde But when they spang o'er reason's fence, / We smart for't at our own expense.

  5. 5

    ScotlandUKTo cause to spring; set forcibly in motion; throw with violence.

noun

  1. 1

    ScotlandA bound or spring; a leap.

  2. 2

    ScotlandA span.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA shiny ornament or object; a spangle

adverb

  1. 1

    datedSuddenly; slap, smack.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce spang?

  • /ˈspæŋ/
  • /ˈspeɪ̯ŋ/
  • /ˈspɛ̃ŋ/

Spang has one syllable, split spang in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spang.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-AlexLesniewski-spang.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of spang

  • spangs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • spanging participle, present
  • spanged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is spang?

Spang appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 114,361st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Where does spang come from?

From Middle English spang (“a small piece of ornamental metal; spangle; small ornament; a bowl or cup”), likely from Middle Dutch spange (“buckle, clasp”) or Old English spang (“buckle, clasp”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).