long - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English long, lang, from Old English long, lang (“long, tall, lasting”), from Proto-West Germanic *lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots lang (“long”), Yola lhaung, long (“long”), North Frisian long, lung, lüng (“long”), Saterland Frisian loang (“long”), West Frisian lang (“long”), Cimbrian lång (“long”), Dutch, German, and Low German lang (“long”), Luxembourgish laang (“long”), Mòcheno lònk (“long”), Vilamovian łaong (“long”), Yiddish לאַנג (lang, “long”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk lang (“long”), Faroese and Icelandic langur (“long”), Swedish lång (“long”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs, “long”); also Latin longus (“long”) (whence French long (“long”), Italian lungo (“long”), Portuguese longo (“long”), Spanish luengo (“long”)), Ancient Greek δολιχός (dolikhós, “long; wearisome”), Albanian gjatë (“long; tall”), Latvian ilgs (“long”), Lithuanian ilgas (“long”), Belarusian до́ўгі (dówhi, “long”), Bulgarian дъ́лъг (dǎ́lǎg, “long”), Czech dlúhý (“long”), Macedonian долг (dolg, “long”), Polish długi (“long”), Russian дли́нный (dlínnyj, “lengthy, long”), до́лгий (dólgij, “long”), Serbo-Croatian ду̏г, dȕg (“long”), Slovak dlhý (“long”), Slovene dolg (“long”), Ukrainian до́вгий (dóvhyj, “long”), Ossetian даргъ (darǧ, “late”), Central Kurdish دێر (dêr), درەنگ (dreng, “late”), Northern Kurdish dereng (“late”), Persian دیر (dēr / dir, “late; long”), درنگ (derang, “delay”), Sanskrit दीर्घ (dīrgha, “long”) (whence Bengali দীর্ঘ (dirgho, “long; tall”), Dhivehi ދިގު (digu, “long, lengthy”), Kalasha driga, dríga (“long; tall”), Kholosi taɽgo (“long”), Khowar درونگ (drung, “long”), Hindi दीर्घ (dīrgh, “long; tall; weighty”), Nepali दिघो (digho, “stable”), Odia ଦୀର୍ଘ (dirgha, “long”), Sinhalese දිග (diga, “long”), Urdu دیرگھ (dīrgh, “long; tall; weighty”)), Kamkata-viri drëgeř, drëgëř, drëŋëň, dërëgeň (“long; tall”), Prasuni jigni (“long; tall”).

The word shows the regular historical change of a to o before certain consonant clusters such as ng (compare with other examples in Middle and Modern English such as bond, song, throng, and wrong). The _o_-form may have also been reinforced by Old French long, from Latin longus, from the same Indo-European word. Doublet of lungo and lunge.

long (comparative longer or more long, superlative longest or most long)

  1. Having much distance in space from one end to the other.
    I need a long piece of wood.
    It’s a long way from the Earth to the Moon.
    How long was your newborn baby?
    1. Specifically, having much distance in a horizontal dimension (see also Usage Notes below).
      This table is long but not very high.
    2. Travelling a great distance.
      Smith hoofs a long ball up to Jones.
    3. (informal) Having a long penis.
      My ex was very strong but not very long.
      • 2026, Elise Young, “Yagaa: Reviving Sericulture in Southern Mexico”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 16:
        A mature silkworm is an impressive 2¾ inches (70 mm) long and eats 50,000 times its mature body weight over the course of its development.
  2. Travelling or extending too great a distance in space.
    1. (of weapons fire, landing aircraft, etc.) Passing or landing ahead of or beyond the intended target or location.
      The plane touched down long and overran the end of the runway.
      • 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 28:10 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN)‎[2], archived from the original on 7 November 2022:
        Juneau was making good time with the other surviving U.S. Navy ships, despite her damage, when the I-26 spotted her and sent a salvo of Type 95 torpedoes in her direction. Passing between the Helena and San Francisco, some indication being they had actually been shot at the San Francisco and gone long because San Francisco was travelling significantly slower than expected, they nonetheless hit Juneau and detonated the ship’s magazine.
    2. (sports, of a ball or shot) Going beyond the intended target.
      That forehand was long. It landed two feet beyond the baseline.
      The pass was long and was gathered by the opposing goalkeeper.
  3. Having great duration.
    His speech was long and dull.
    The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.
    I took a long look at the house, knowing it was for the last time.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […] , and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.
  4. Seeming to last a lot of time, due to being boring, tedious, tiring, irksome, etc.
    It took us three long weeks to clear the stones from the field.
    It'll be a long journey home for the travelling supporters after that 5-0 defeat.
    • [1877], Anna Sewell, “A Strike for Liberty”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 109:
      What I suffered with that rein for four long months in my lady’s carriage, it would be hard to describe, but I am quite sure that, had it lasted much longer, either my health or my temper would have given way.
  5. (UK, Ireland, dated) Not short; tall.
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
  6. (finance) Possessing or owning stocks, bonds, commodities, or other financial instruments with the aim of benefiting from an expected rise in their value.
    Antonym: short
    I’m long in DuPont.
  7. (cricket) Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
  8. (gambling) Of betting odds, offering a very large return for a small wager.
  9. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IIII, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 55:
      But Campbell thus did ſhut vp all in ieſt, / Braue Knights and Ladies, certes ye doe wrong / To ſtirre vp ſtrife, when moſt vs needeth reſt, / That we may vs reſerue both freſh and ſtrong, / Againſt the Turneiment which is not long.
  10. (African-American Vernacular, MLE, slang, of money) In great supply; abundant.
  1. (slang, MLE) Clipping of taking a long time.
    Synonyms: boring, late, slow, time-consuming
  1. (slang, MLE, by extension) stupid; annoying; bullshit
  1. (slang, MLE, by extension) serious; deadly.
    Synonyms: the end, curtains
  1. (Canada, US, of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 13 in.
  2. (Philippines, of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in.

long (plural longs)

  1. (linguistics) A long vowel.
    • 1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics, volume 2, page 60:
      In French most vowels are half-long, and are only occasionally lengthened or shortened into full longs and shorts.
  2. (prosody) A long syllable.
  3. (music) A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
  4. (programming) A long integer variable, twice the size of an int, two or four times the size of a short, and half of a long long.
    A long is typically 64 bits in a 32-bit environment.
  5. (finance) An entity with a long position in an asset; for example, a trader or investor possessing an amount of a company's shares.
    Synonym: bull
    Every uptick made the longs cheer.
  6. (finance) A long-maturity security, such as a ten- or twenty-year bond.
    • 1977, Jerome B. Cohen, Edward D. Zinbarg, Arthur Zeikel, Guide to Intelligent Investing, →OCLC, page 203:
      Likewise, if borrowers prefer to sell short-maturity issues at the time lenders prefer to invest in longs, as is the case when interest rates are expected to fall, longer maturity issues will tend to yield less than shorter maturity issues.
    • "U.S. Treasury Market Structure", https://www.mfaalts.org/issue/u-s-treasury-market-structure/
      Hedge funds are constrained in how much leverage they can utilize, in part because the futures contracts they are shorting against their Treasury longs have significant initial margin requirements.
  7. (Oxbridge, dated) Clipping of long vacation (“summer vacation”).
    • 1863, Charles Reade, Hard Cash:
      “ […] Did I not forbid all these nicknames and all this Oxfordish, by proclamation, last Long.”
      “Last Long?”
      “Hem! last protracted vacation.”
  8. (Philippines) Ellipsis of long bond paper.

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

  1. (transitive, finance) To take a long position in.
    • 2004, Thomas S. Y. Ho with Sang Bin Lee and Sang-bin Yi, The Oxford Guide to Financial Modeling, page 84:
      The left panel shows the profile of a portfolio consisting of longing a call and shorting a put.

finance: to take a long position

From Middle English longe, lange, from Old English longe, lange, from the adjective (see above).

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

  1. (chiefly sports) Over a great distance in space.
    Synonyms: a long way, far
    Antonym: a short distance
    Every golfer wants to hit the ball long and straight.
    1. Over too great a distance, beyond the target.
      She hit her return long and lost the point.
  2. For a particular duration (specified by additional qualifying words accompanying it).
    How long is it until the next bus arrives?
    She has known us as long as you.
    I’ve waited long enough.
    He slept all day long.
    The meeting has already gone on much too long.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 156, column 1:
      I ſtay too long ; but here my Father comes : / A double bleſſing is a double grace; / Occaſion ſmiles vpon a ſecond leaue.
    • 1991, James Melvin Washington, editor, A testament of hope: the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, page 636:
      I answer by saying that I have worked too long and hard now against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern.
  3. (placed before a verb, participle, adjective, preposition, or adverb) For a long time.
    Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.
    By eight o’clock, the food will be long gone.
    I seldom stay long after class, but yesterday I spent the evening and long into the night.
    Long live the Queen.
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
    • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
  4. (placed by itself after a positive verb, rare) For a long time.
    • 1925, Langston Hughes, “An Earth Song”, in Alain LeRoy Locke, editor, The New Negro: An Interpretation, New York: Albert and Charles Boni, page 142:
      It’s an earth song,—
      And I’ve been waiting long for an earth song.
      It’s a spring song,—
      And I’ve been waiting long for a spring song. […]
      I have been waiting long for this spring song.
  5. A long time (see usage notes).
    Antonyms: an instant, a minute, a moment, a second, a short time, not long
    Will this interview take long?
    I haven’t got long to live.
    They are in a hurry; they can’t wait for too long.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512:
      My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.
    • 2021 August 19, “Drake”‎[15]performed by Most Certi:
      [Verse 1]: […] Be there in five, man’s taking long. Are you still there? No fam, I’m already gone.

The use of long with the sense a long time (found as a complement of verbs like take, have (got), need, spend, give, be or of the prepositions for or before) is normally restricted to questions and negative statements.[1] In other situations, the phrase a long time is used instead:

Does it take long?

— No, it doesn't take long.

(nonstandard) — Yes, it takes long.

— Yes, it takes a long time.

— Yes, it takes far too long.

This restriction does not apply when "long" is modified by an adverb such as too or enough. It also does not apply when "long" is used as a premodifier of a verb, participle, adjective, preposition or adverb with the sense "for a long time".

From Middle English longen, from Old English langian (“to long for, yearn after, grieve for, be pained, lengthen, grow longer, summon, belong”), from Proto-West Germanic *langōn, from Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), from Proto-Indo-European *lengʷʰ- (“to be easy, be quick, jump, move around, vary”). Cognate with German langen (“to reach, be sufficient”), Swedish langa (“to push, pass by hand”), Icelandic langa (“to want, desire”), Dutch, German verlangen (“to desire, want, long for”).

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

  1. (intransitive) To await, aspire, desire greatly (something to occur or to be true).
    Synonyms: ache for, yearn
    She longed for him to come back.
    • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit:
      The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad.

From Middle English long, lang, an aphetic form of Middle English ilong, ylong, from Old English ġelong, ġelang (“along, belonging, depending, consequent”); the verb later reinterpreted as an aphetic form of belong.

long (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) On account of, because of.
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, Essays, II.8, page 224:
      I am of opinion, that in regarde of theſe debauches and lewde actions, fathers may, in ſome ſort, be blamed, and that it is onely long of them.

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

  1. (archaic) To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.

Shortening of longitude.

long (plural longs)

  1. Abbreviation of longitude.
    Coordinate term: lat

From Middle English longen, from Old English langian (“to belong, pertain”), from Old English *lang, which is of uncertain origin yet related to Old English ġelang (“dependent, attainable, present, belonging, consequent”), Old Saxon gilang (“ready, available”).

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

  1. (obsolete) To belong.

    • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene v:
      Now ſend Ambaſſage to thy neighbor Kinges,
      And let them know the Perſian King is chang’d:
      From one that knew not what a King ſhould doe,
      To one that can commaund what longs there to: […]

  2. ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K.; Huddleston, Rodney (2002), “Adjectives and adverbs”, in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, page 569

From Dutch long, from Middle Dutch longe, also longen, longene, from Old Dutch *lungan, *lunganna, from Proto-Germanic *lunganjō.

long (plural longe, diminutive longetjie)

  1. lung

Chinese Pidgin English

[edit]

From English along. Equivalent to Cantonese 同 (tung4) grammatically.

long

  1. comitative case marker
  2. benefactive case marker
  3. ablative case marker

From Middle Dutch longe, also longen, longene, from Old Dutch *lungan, *lunganna, from Proto-Germanic *lunganjō.

long f or m (plural longen, diminutive longetje n)

  1. lung

Traditionally feminine in the Netherlands, masculine in Belgium due to masculinisation.

Inherited from Latin longus.

long (feminine longe, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longes) (ORB, broad)

  1. long
    Antonym: côrt

Inherited from Old French long, from longe, longue, feminine of lonc, lunc, from Latin longus. Cognate with English long, origin of German Chaiselongue.

long (feminine longue, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longues)

  1. long
    Synonyms: épais, grand, haut, large, profond
    Antonyms: bas, court, étroit, mince

long m (plural longs)

  1. length
    Le nez de Pinocchio mesure le matin 5 cm de long.
    Pinocchio's nose measures 5 cm long in the morning.
    J'aime marcher le long du fleuve.
    I like walking along the river.

From French long, longue (“long”).

long

  1. long

From Proto-Hlai *C-luŋ (“big”), from Pre-Hlai *C-luŋ (Norquest, 2015). Compare Proto-Tai *ʰluəŋᴬ (“big”) (whence Thai หลวง (lǔuang)).

long

  1. big

From Betawi long, from Hokkien 烺 (lóng, lōng, “bright”).

long

  1. (dialectal) large firecracker

Long i gCuan na Gaillimhe

From Old Irish long, from Latin (navis) longa (“long (ship)”).

long f (genitive singular loinge, nominative plural longa)

  1. ship
  1. ^ Ó Cuív, Brian (1968), The Irish of West Muskerry, Co. Cork: A Phonetic Study, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, section 401, page 120; reprinted 1988
  2. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 41, page 22
  3. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 47, page 25
  4. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 182
  5. ^ de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1975), The Irish of Cois Fhairrge, Co. Galway: A Phonetic Study, revised edition, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, § 211, page 39
  6. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 110, page 43

From English long.

long

  1. For a lengthy duration (see usage notes).
    • 2019 October 21, “Bruk It”‎[18]performed by Spice (musician) and Jugglerz:
      [Verse 2]: Him seh 'im love di way mi bubble how mi tan pon hi' long. Mek me talk Chinese like me live Hong Kong.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Unlike in standard English, in Jamaican creole the adverb long, when it means for a lengthy duration, is used freely in questions and statements, whether positive or negative.

Compare Khmer លោង (loong), Cham [louŋ], Thai โลง (loong).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

long (Jawi spelling لوڠ, plural **long-long or **long2)

  1. coffin; casket
    Synonyms: larung, keranda

long

  1. nonstandard spelling of lōng
  2. nonstandard spelling of lóng
  3. nonstandard spelling of lǒng
  4. nonstandard spelling of lòng

From Old English lang, from Proto-West Germanic *lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos.

The sense "due to" is from Old English ġelang, from Proto-West Germanic *galang.

long (plural and weak singular longe, comparative lengere, superlative lengest)

  1. Long; having great length:
    1. Tall; having great height.
    2. Elongated; with a length exceeding its width.
  2. Long-lasting, lengthy; having great duration:
  3. Distant or remote in time or (rarely) space.
  4. Due to, dependent upon, attributable to.
  5. (uncommon) Tardy, slow, overdue.
  6. (uncommon) Eternal, perpetual; without end.

long

  1. alternative form of longe (adverb)

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *looŋ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-lawŋ.

long

  1. boat

long

Sanskrit लवङ्ग (lavaṅga)

Assamese লং (loṅ)

Naga Pidgin long

Inherited from Assamese লং (loṅ), from Prakrit 𑀮𑀯𑀁𑀕 (lavaṃga), from Sanskrit लवङ्ग (lavaṅga).

long (plural longkhan)

  1. clove

From Old French long, a back-formation from longe, longue, the feminine form of Early Old French lonc, from Latin longus.

long m

  1. (Jersey) long
    • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎[19], page 533:
      Six s'maïnes avant Noué, et six s'maïnes après, les nits sont les pûs longues, et le jours les pûs freds.
      Six weeks before Christmas and six weeks after, the nights are the longest and the days the coldest.

From Old Frisian long, from Proto-West Germanic *lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”).

long

  1. (Halligen) long

From Latin longus.

long m (feminine singular longa, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longas)

  1. long

long

  1. alternative form of lang

Declension of long — Strong

Declension of long — Weak

Inherited from Latin longus.

long m (oblique and nominative feminine singular longe or longue)

  1. long (length, duration)

From Proto-West Germanic *lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos. Cognates include Old English lang, Old Saxon lang and Old Dutch *lang.

long

  1. long

Generally assumed to be a Latin loan, from (navis) longa, but Joseph Loth believed it to be from Proto-Celtic *longā; either way, cognate to Welsh llong.

long f (genitive lungae, nominative plural longa)

  1. boat
  2. ship

Mutation of long

radical lenition nasalization
longalso llong in h-prothesis environments longpronounced with /l-/ longalso llong

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

long

  1. to; toward; into
  2. in; at; near
    • 1988, Geoffrey Miles White, Bikfala faet: olketa Solomon Aelanda rimembarem Wol Wo Tu‎[20], page 75:
      Bihaen hemi finisim skul blong hem, hemi go minista long sios long ples blong hem long 'Areo.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

From Old Irish long. Compare Welsh llong.

long f (genitive singular luinge, plural longan)

  1. ship
  1. ^ John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis)‎[1], Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh
  2. ^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1941), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. II: The dialects of Skye and Ross-shire, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 137
  3. ^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1941), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. II: The dialects of Skye and Ross-shire, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 35
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Holmer, Nils M. (1938), Studies on Argyllshire Gaelic, Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri-A.-B., page 186
  5. ^ Wentworth, Roy (2003), Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar, Inverness: CLÀR, →ISBN, page 631

Proto-West Germanic *lang

Middle English

Tok Pisin long

From English along.

long

  1. Used to mark spatial direct objects that something is oriented in the manner of, where English would use to, toward, into, or onto
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:15:
      * These lights must rise in the sky to cast light toward the ground.
  2. Used to mark spatial direct objects that something is oriented in the location of, where English would use in, at, on, or near
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:15:
      * These lights must rise in the sky to cast light toward the ground.
  3. Used to mark indirect objects, or direct objects of intransitive verbs, where English would use to
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:22:
      Na God i mekim gutpela tok bilong givim strong long ol. Em i tokim ol olsem, “Yupela ol kain kain samting bilong solwara, yupela i mas kamap planti na pulapim olgeta hap bilong solwara. Na yupela ol pisin, yupela i mas kamap planti long graun.”
      →New International Version translation
      * And God made a good speech to give strength to them. He said to them: "You varied things of the ocean, you must multiply and fill every part of the sea. And you birds, you must multiply on earth.
  4. Used to mark spatial direct objects that something is oriented in the manner opposite of, extracted from, or away from, where English would use from or out of
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 2:22:
      * Then God made a woman out of that bone he had taken from the man, and later he brought the woman to go to the man.
  5. Used to mark temporal direct objects in which a condition lasts for a certain duration of time, where English would use for
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:14:
      Na God, Bikpela i tokim snek olsem, “Yu bin mekim dispela pasin nogut, olsem na nau mi gat strongpela tok bilong daunim yu. Bai yu gat bikpela hevi. Hevi yu karim bai i winim hevi bilong olgeta arapela animal. Nau na long olgeta taim bihain bai yu wokabaut long bel bilong yu tasol. Na bai yu kaikai das bilong graun.
      →New International Version translation
      * And the Lord God said to the snake: "You did a bad deed, and so I have a powerful curse for you. You will have a great weight. The wight you carry will exceed that of any all animals. Now, and for all times, you will only walk on your stomach. And you will eat the dirt of the earth.
  6. Used to mark a verb whose subject is the direct object of another verb, where English would use to or from
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:17:
      Na God i tokim Adam olsem, “Yu bin harim tok bilong meri bilong yu, na yu bin kaikai pikinini bilong dispela diwai mi bin tambuim yu long kaikai. Olsem na nau bai mi bagarapim graun, na ol kaikai bai i no inap kamap gut long en. Oltaim bai yu wok hat tru bilong mekim kaikai i kamap long graun.
      →New International Version translation
      * And God said to Adam: "You listened to what your woman said, and you ate a fruit of this tree which I have forbidden you from eating. And so I will now corrupt the earth, and food will not grow well enough. You will work very hard forever to make food grow in the ground.

Compare lung as in lung lay.

long

  1. loose
    răng long ― loose tooth

long

  1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 龍 (“dragon”)

long

  1. soft mutation of llong

Mutated forms of llong

radical soft nasal aspirate
llong long unchanged unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

long

  1. alternative form of lhaung
    • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 116, lines 11-12:
      w'oul daie an ercha daie, our meines an oure gurles, praie var long an happie zins,
      we will daily and every day, our wives and our children, implore long and happy days,