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Origin and history of ping

ping(n.)

1835, imitative of the sound of a bullet whistling through the air or striking something sharply. Meaning "short, high-pitched electronic pulse" is attested from 1943. As a verb from 1855; in computer sense is from at least 1981, based on earlier use of the word in reference to a submarine sonar pulse, in which it might combine the sound-word and ping-pong (which also is based on sound). Related: Pinged; pinging.

also from 1835

Entries linking to ping

ping-pong(n.)

1900, as Ping-Pong, trademark for table tennis equipment (Parker Brothers). Both words are imitative of the sound of the ball hitting a hard surface; from ping + pong (attested from 1823). It had a "phenomenal vogue" in U.S. c. 1900-1905.

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    Trends of ping

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    pink
    1570s, common name of Dianthus, a garden plant of various colors; a word of unknown origin. It is perhaps from pink (v.) via the notion of "perforated" (scalloped) petals. Or perhaps it is from Dutch pink "small, narrow," itself obscure (compare pinkie), via the term pinck oogen
    knock
    Old English cnocian (West Saxon cnucian), "to pound, beat; knock (on a door)," likely of imitative origin. Figurative meaning "deprecate, put down" is from 1892. Related: Knocked; knocking. Of engines from 1869. To knock back (a drink) "swallow quickly or at a gulp" is from 1931.
    dame
    sand We got moonlight on the sea We got mangoes and bananas You can pick right off the tree We got volleyball and ping-pong...
    table
    Table tennis "ping-pong" is recorded from 1887....
    hit
    late Old English hyttan, hittan "come upon, meet with, fall in with, 'hit' upon," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse hitta "to light upon, meet with," also "to hit, strike;" Swedish hitta "to find," Danish and Norwegian hitte "to hit, find," from Proto-Germanic *hitjan,
    strike
    Middle English striken, from Old English strican (past tense strac, past participle stricen) "pass lightly over, stroke, smooth, rub" (senses now obsolete), also "go, move, proceed, make one's way," from Proto-Germanic *strikanan (source also of Old Norse strykva "to stroke," Old
    reach
    Middle English rēchen, from Old English ræcan, reccan "to reach out, stretch or extend outward, hold forth, extend in continuity or scope," also "to succeed in touching, succeed in striking;" also "to address, speak to," also "to offer, present, give, grant." This is proposed to
    sound
    "noise, what is heard, sensation produced through the ear," late 13c., soun, from Old French son "sound, musical note, voice," from Latin sonus "sound, a noise," from PIE *swon-o-, from root *swen- "to sound." The unetymological -d was established c. 1350-1550 (see D). Sound-boar
    go
    Old English gan "to advance, walk; depart, go away; happen, take place; conquer; observe, practice, exercise," from West Germanic *gaian (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian gan, Middle Dutch gaen, Dutch gaan, Old High German gan, German gehen), from PIE root *ghē- "to release,
    contact
    1620s, "action, state, or condition of touching," from Latin contactus "a touching" (especially "a touching of something unclean, contamination"), from past participle of contingere "to touch, seize," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + tangere "to touch,"

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