Standard Lemma guide

earring

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈɪɹɪŋ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɪəɹɪŋ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪəɹɪŋ
  • CMU ARPABET: IH1 R IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: IY1 R IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A piece of jewelry worn on the ear.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative form of earing (“a manufacturing defect in which the edges of sheet metal form a wave pattern during deep drawing”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

jewelry to ornament the ear; usually clipped to the earlobe or fastened through a hole in the lobe

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: jewelry, jewellery

Narrower terms: pendant earring, drop earring, eardrop

History

Etymology

From Middle English erering, from Old English ēarhring (“ear-ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀahring, equivalent to ear + ring. Cognate with West Frisian earring (“earring”), Dutch oorring (“earring”), German Low German Ohrring (“earring”), German Ohrring (“earring”), Danish ørering (“earring”), Swedish örring (“earring”).

Across languages

Translations

226 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: oorbel — piece of jewelry
  • Afrikaans: oorring — piece of jewelry
  • Afrikaans: oorkrabbetjie — piece of jewelry
  • Afrikaans: oorkrawwetjie — piece of jewelry
  • Ainu: ニンカリ (ninkari) — piece of jewelry
  • Albanian: vathë — piece of jewelry
  • Southern Altai: сырга (sïrga) — piece of jewelry
  • Arabic: قُرْط (qurṭ) — piece of jewelry
  • Arabic: حَلَق (ḥalaq) — piece of jewelry
  • Arabic: حلقة (ḥalʔa) — piece of jewelry
  • Arabic: حَلَق (ḥalag) — piece of jewelry
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܩܢܲܫܬܵܐ (qnaštā) — piece of jewelry
  • Armenian: ականջօղ (akanǰōġ) — piece of jewelry
  • Armenian: օղ (ōġ) — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: tsirtselj — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: tsirtseljiu — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: tsirtsel — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: dzirdzelj — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: dzirdzeljiu — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: minghiush — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: mãnghiush — piece of jewelry
  • Aromanian: ver — piece of jewelry
  • Asturian: pendiente — piece of jewelry
  • Asturian: perendengue — piece of jewelry
  • Asturian: areta — piece of jewelry
  • Avar: кӏиликӏ (kʼilikʼ) — piece of jewelry
  • Azerbaijani: sırğa — piece of jewelry
  • Bashkir: алҡа (alqa) — piece of jewelry
  • Bashkir: һырға (hırğa) — piece of jewelry
  • Basque: belarritako — piece of jewelry
  • Bats: საყურე̂ (saq̇urê) — piece of jewelry
  • Belarusian: заву́шніца (zavúšnica) — piece of jewelry
  • Bengali: মাকড়ি (makoṛi) — piece of jewelry
  • Bhojpuri: बाली (bālī) — piece of jewelry
  • Central Bikol: hikaw — piece of jewelry
  • Bouyei: soic — piece of jewelry
  • Bulgarian: обица́ (obicá) — piece of jewelry
  • Bulgarian: обеца́ (obecá) — piece of jewelry
  • Burmese: နားကပ် (na:kap) — piece of jewelry
  • Burmese: နားကွင်း (na:kwang:) — piece of jewelry
  • Buryat: һиихэ (hiixe) — piece of jewelry
  • Catalan: arracada — piece of jewelry
  • Cebuano: ariyos — piece of jewelry
  • Chechen: чӏагарш (čʼagarš) — piece of jewelry
  • Chechen: хьалкханаш (ḥralqanaš) — piece of jewelry
  • Cherokee: ᎠᏟᎠᏙ (atliado) — piece of jewelry
  • Chinese Cantonese: 耳環 /耳环 — piece of jewelry
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 耳環 /耳环 — piece of jewelry
  • Gan Chinese: 環子 /环子 (fan2 zr) — piece of jewelry
  • Hakka Chinese: 耳環 /耳环 (ngí-vàn) — piece of jewelry
  • Chinese: 耳鉤 /耳钩 (zh-min-nan) — piece of jewelry
  • Chinese: 耳環 /耳环 (hīn-khoân, hī-khoân) — piece of jewelry
  • Chinese Mandarin: 耳環 /耳环 (ěrhuán) — piece of jewelry
  • Northern Min Chinese: 耳釘 /耳钉 (nèng-dáing) — piece of jewelry
  • Wu Chinese: 耳環 /耳环 (6gher-gue) — piece of jewelry
  • Wu Chinese: 耳朵環 /耳朵环 (6gni-tu-gue) — piece of jewelry
  • Xiang Chinese: 耳環 /耳环 — piece of jewelry
  • Xiang Chinese: 環子 /环子 (fan2 zr) — piece of jewelry
  • Coptic: ⲕⲁϣⲁⲃⲉⲗ (kašabel) — piece of jewelry
  • Crimean Tatar: sırğa — piece of jewelry
  • Czech: náušnice — piece of jewelry
  • Danish: ørering — piece of jewelry
  • Dolgan: ытырга (ıtırga) — piece of jewelry
  • Dutch: oorbel — piece of jewelry
  • Dutch: oorring — piece of jewelry
  • Esperanto: orelringo — piece of jewelry
  • Estonian: kõrvarõngas — piece of jewelry
  • Faroese: oyrnaringur — piece of jewelry
  • Faroese: oyrnalokkur — piece of jewelry
  • Finnish: korvakoru — piece of jewelry
  • Finnish: korvarengas — piece of jewelry
  • French: boucle d'oreille — piece of jewelry
  • West-Frisian: earring — piece of jewelry
  • West-Frisian: earbel — piece of jewelry
  • Galician: pendente — piece of jewelry
  • Galician: brinco — piece of jewelry
  • Galician: cercelo — piece of jewelry
  • Georgian: საყურე (saq̇ure) — piece of jewelry
  • German: Ohrring — piece of jewelry
  • Greek: σκουλαρίκι (skoularíki) — piece of jewelry
  • Ancient Greek: ἐνώτιον (enṓtion) — piece of jewelry
  • Ancient Greek: πλάστρον (plástron) — piece of jewelry
  • Hausa: yari — piece of jewelry
  • Hebrew: עָגִיל (agíl) — piece of jewelry
  • Hiligaynon: aritos — piece of jewelry
  • Hindi: कान की बाली (kān kī bālī) — piece of jewelry
  • Hindi: बाली (bālī) — piece of jewelry
  • Hungarian: fülbevaló — piece of jewelry
  • Icelandic: eyrnalokkur — piece of jewelry
  • Ido: oreloringo — piece of jewelry
  • Ilocano: aritos — piece of jewelry
  • Ilocano: lubay — piece of jewelry
  • Indonesian: subang — piece of jewelry
  • Indonesian: anting-anting — piece of jewelry
  • Ingrian: tiltukas — piece of jewelry
  • Ingush: гӏалкха (ğalqa) — piece of jewelry
  • Irish: fáinne cluaise — piece of jewelry
  • Italian: orecchino — piece of jewelry
  • Japanese: イヤリング (iyaringu) — piece of jewelry
  • Japanese: 耳飾り (mimikazari) — piece of jewelry
  • Kanakanabu: sasanang tʉkʉ — piece of jewelry
  • Kapampangan: tingga — piece of jewelry
  • Kashubian: ùsznica — piece of jewelry
  • Kashubian: zaùsznica — piece of jewelry
  • Kashubian: óring — piece of jewelry
  • Kazakh: сырға (syrğa) — piece of jewelry
  • Ket: оӄтан ~ оӄтон — piece of jewelry
  • Khmer: ក្រវិល (krɑɑvəl) — piece of jewelry
  • Khmer: កុណ្ឌល (kondŭəl) — piece of jewelry
  • Khmer: ក្រវិលត្រចៀក (krɑɑvəl trɑɑciək) — piece of jewelry
  • Khmer: កន្ទល់ (kɑɑkɑntŭəl) — piece of jewelry
  • Korean: 귀고리 (gwigori) — piece of jewelry
  • Korean: 이어링 (ieoring) — piece of jewelry
  • Central Kurdish: گوارھ (gwarh) — piece of jewelry
  • Northern Kurdish: guhar — piece of jewelry
  • Northern Kurdish: guhark — piece of jewelry
  • Kyrgyz: сырга (sırga) — piece of jewelry
  • Ladin: rucin — piece of jewelry
  • Lao: ຕຸ້ມຫູ (tum hū) — piece of jewelry
  • Latin: inauris — piece of jewelry
  • Latvian: auskars — piece of jewelry
  • Laz: ოყუჯე (oquce) — piece of jewelry
  • Laz: ყუჯიში (qucişi) — piece of jewelry
  • Lithuanian: auskaras — piece of jewelry
  • Luxembourgish: Ouerrank — piece of jewelry
  • Macedonian: о́бетка (óbetka) — piece of jewelry
  • Macedonian: менѓуша (menǵuša) — piece of jewelry
  • Maguindanao: pamalang — piece of jewelry
  • Malay: anting-anting — piece of jewelry
  • Malay: subang — piece of jewelry
  • Malayalam: കമ്മൽ (kammal) — piece of jewelry
  • Manx: fainey chleayshey — piece of jewelry
  • Māori: whakakai — piece of jewelry
  • Māori: iaringi — piece of jewelry
  • Maranao: pamrang — piece of jewelry
  • Marathi: कानातले (kānātale) — piece of jewelry
  • Eastern Mari: алга (alga) — piece of jewelry
  • Mingrelian: ოჸუჯე (oʾuǯe) — piece of jewelry
  • Mongolian: ээмэг (eemeg) — piece of jewelry
  • Khiamniungan Naga: tàu — piece of jewelry
  • Navajo: jaatłʼóół — piece of jewelry
  • Navajo: jaaʼ bigháníʼáhí — piece of jewelry
  • Nepali: झुम्का (jhumkā) — piece of jewelry
  • Nogai: сырга (sırga) — piece of jewelry
  • Norman: boucl'ye d'ouothelle — piece of jewelry
  • Norwegian Bokmål: øredobb — piece of jewelry
  • Norwegian Bokmål: øredobbe — piece of jewelry
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: øyredobb — piece of jewelry
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: øyredobbe — piece of jewelry
  • Occitan: pendent — piece of jewelry
  • Northern Ohlone: ponkói — piece of jewelry
  • Old English: ēarhring — piece of jewelry
  • Oromo: lootii — piece of jewelry
  • Ossetian: хъусцӕг (quscæg) — piece of jewelry
  • Pangasinan: ikaw — piece of jewelry
  • Iranian Persian: گوشْوارِه (gušvâre) — piece of jewelry
  • Iranian Persian: مَنْگوش (manguš) — piece of jewelry
  • Polish: kolczyk — piece of jewelry
  • Portuguese: brinco — piece of jewelry
  • Romanian: cercel — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: ureglin — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: urachin — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: uraglin — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: rintga — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: rentga d'ureglia — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: rentga — piece of jewelry
  • Romansh: pandarliez — piece of jewelry
  • Russian: серьга́ (serʹgá) — piece of jewelry
  • Russian: серёжка (serjóžka) — piece of jewelry
  • Sanskrit: कर्णवेष्ट (karṇaveṣṭa) — piece of jewelry
  • Scottish Gaelic: fàinne-chluaise — piece of jewelry
  • Serbo-Croatian: на̀ушница — piece of jewelry
  • Serbo-Croatian: мѝнђуша — piece of jewelry
  • Serbo-Croatian: ри̑нчица — piece of jewelry
  • Serbo-Croatian: nàušnica — piece of jewelry
  • Serbo-Croatian: mìnđuša — piece of jewelry
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȋnčica — piece of jewelry
  • Sicilian: ricchina — piece of jewelry
  • Silesian: zauszńica — piece of jewelry
  • Slovak: náušnica — piece of jewelry
  • Slovene: uhan — piece of jewelry
  • Lower Sorbian: zawušnik — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: arete — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: arito — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: aro — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: caravana — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: chapa — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: pantalla — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: pendiente — piece of jewelry
  • Spanish: zarcillo — piece of jewelry
  • Sranan Tongo: yesilinga — piece of jewelry
  • Svan: ლეშდმა̈რ (lešdmär) — piece of jewelry
  • Swahili: hereni — piece of jewelry
  • Swahili: kipuli — piece of jewelry
  • Swahili: bali — piece of jewelry
  • Swedish: örhänge — piece of jewelry
  • Tagalog: arilyos — piece of jewelry
  • Tagalog: hikaw — piece of jewelry
  • Tajik: гӯшвора (güšvora) — piece of jewelry
  • Tamil: தோடு (tōṭu) — piece of jewelry
  • Tatar: сырга (sırğa) — piece of jewelry
  • Telugu: చెవిపోగు (cevipōgu) — piece of jewelry
  • Thai: ต่างหู (dtàang-hǔu) — piece of jewelry
  • Thai: ตุ้มหู (dtûm-hǔu) — piece of jewelry
  • Tibetan: རྣ་རྒྱན (rna rgyan) — piece of jewelry
  • Tocharian B: klautsaiñe — piece of jewelry
  • Turkish: küpe — piece of jewelry
  • Turkmen: gulakhalka — piece of jewelry
  • Ukrainian: серга́ (serhá) — piece of jewelry
  • Ukrainian: сере́жка (seréžka) — piece of jewelry
  • Ukrainian: ку́льчик (kúlʹčyk) — piece of jewelry
  • Urdu: بالی (bālī) — piece of jewelry
  • Urdu: جُھمْکا (jhumkā) — piece of jewelry
  • Urdu: کان کی بالی (kān kī bālī) — piece of jewelry
  • Uyghur: سۆكە (söke) — piece of jewelry
  • Uyghur: يىگىنە (yigine) — piece of jewelry
  • Uzbek: isirgʻa — piece of jewelry
  • Uzbek: zirak — piece of jewelry
  • Vietnamese: khuyên tai — piece of jewelry
  • Vietnamese: khuyên — piece of jewelry
  • Vietnamese: hoa tai — piece of jewelry
  • Vietnamese: bông tai — piece of jewelry
  • Waray-Waray: ariyos — piece of jewelry
  • Welsh: clustlws — piece of jewelry
  • Yiddish: וירינגל (oyringl) — piece of jewelry
  • Zhuang: soij — piece of jewelry
Real reading context

earring in complete knowledge articles