Ming
/mɪŋ/noun
A dialectal or archaic English verb meaning to mix or mingle; in British slang, it can mean to smell unpleasant.
Did you know?The British slang sense meaning “to stink” has an uncertain later history, while the older dialectal sense belongs to the same Germanic word family as “mingle.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*mangjaną
“to mix or blend; reconstructed Germanic ancestor”
Old English
Old English
mengan
“to mix, mingle, or combine”
Middle English
Middle English
mengen
“to mix or mingle”
Middle Scots
Scots
ming
“to mix or mingle; dialectal form”
Modern English
English
ming
“An archaic or dialectal verb meaning “mix,” later also British slang for smelling unpleasant”