ring

{{11}}ring (n.) O.E. hring "circular band," from P.Gmc. *khrengaz (Cf. O.N. hringr, O.Fris. hring, Ger. Ring), lit. "something curved," from PIE root * (s)ker- "to turn, bend" (Cf. L. curvus "bent, curved," crispus "curly;" O.C.S. kragu "circle," and perhaps Gk. kirkos "ring," koronos "curved").

Meaning "place for prize fight and wrestling bouts" (early 14c.) is from the space in a circle of bystanders in which such contests were once held (ringside is attested from 1866). Meaning "combination of interested persons" is from 1829. Tree ring is from 1670s; fairy ring is from 1620s. Nursery rhyme ring a ring a rosie, is attested in an American form (with a different ending) from c.1790. "The belief that the rhyme originated with the Great Plague is now almost universal, but has no evidence to support it and is almost certainly nonsense" ["Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore"]. This connection only dates to the 1960s.

{{12}}ring (v.¹) "sound a bell," O.E. hringan, from P.Gmc. *khrenganan (Cf. O.N. hringja, Swed. ringa, M.Du. ringen), probably of imitative origin. To give (someone) a ring "call on the telephone" was in use by 1910. To ring down a theatrical curtain is from 1772, from the custom of signaling for it by ringing a bell.

{{12}}ring (v.²) "make a circle around," O.E. ymbhringan, from the root of RING (Cf. ring) (n.).