Etymology Dictionary

PANG,  a violent pain, a throe.  (C.)   In the Court of Love, l. 1150, we find:  'The prange of love so straineth them to crie;' altered, in modern editions, to 'The pange of love.'   In Prompt. Parv. p. 493, we find:  'Throwe, womannys pronge, sekeness, Erumpna;' i.e. a throe, a woman's pang.   It is clear that the word has lost an r; for the etymology, see Prong.   β. In Skelton, Philip Sparowe, l. 44, the word occurs as a verb:  'What heuyness did me pange;' it is also a sb., id. l. 62.   Cf. also:  'For there be in us certayne affectionate pangues of nature;' Udall, Luke, c. 4 (R.)   Both sb. and vb. are common in Shakespeare.   The loss of r is due, I think, to confusion with prov. F. poigne, a common term for 'a grip,' or the strength exerted by the wrist.   'La poigne de cet homme-là, c'est un étau' = that man's grip is like a vice.   In the 5th century, we find:  'Car tourmenté sont de la poigne De tous les maux qu'en enfer sont' = for they are tormented with the grip of all the evils that are in hell; La Passion de Nostre Seigneur.   See Littré, whence the whole of the above is cited.   Cf. also O.F. empoigner, 'to seise, gripe, catch, lay hands on, lay hold of;' Cot.   γ. The prov. F. poigne is closely related to O.F. poin, poing, mod. F. poing, the fist; from Lat. pugnum, acc. of pugnus, the fist; see Pugnacious.   δ. It is extremely likely that the E. word has also been influenced by O.F. poign-, the base of several parts of F. poindre, to prick; cf. O.F. poinct, a stitch in the side (Cot.); and see Poignant.  ¶ The word cannot be derived from A.S. pyngan (Lat. pungere), to prick; nor can it have any connection whatever with Du. pijnigen, to torture; words which have been needlessly adduced, and explain nothing.