Etymology: Found first late in 16th cent.; apparently formed immediately from, or in collocation with, clang v.¹ Compare Latin clangor ‘sound of a trumpet, shrill scream of birds’, which were also the earliest senses of clang . (Thence also French clangueur , and clangueux adjective ‘loudly ringing’. Cotgrave). The Latin verb and noun were probably etymologically cognate with Greek κλάζειν , κλαγγή , in same senses; but German klang ‘sound, musical sound’ (Middle High German klanc (klanges ), Old High German chlang ) is not related to these, being an echoic word which has separately arisen in German. No trace of any such word is known in Old English or Middle English: see however clank n. The adoption and use of clang in modern English have doubtless been greatly influenced by the echoic nature of the word, by which it is associated directly with certain sounds, independently of its derivation; compare clang-clang, cling-clang, as imitations of the sound of a bell. From this cause also the central sense of clang has now shifted from that of Latin clangor; on the other hand, some writers have used it as identical with Greek κλαγγή or German klang above mentioned.

Etymology: apparently < Latin clangĕre to emit a ringing sound, as a trumpet (clangunt tubae), to scream as an eagle or other large bird. Compare Greek κλάζειν, root klag-, klang-, to emit a sharp piercing sound, said of birds, dogs, arrows, the string of a bow, the wind; also of men, to scream, shriek. Some of the English uses are in imitation of the Greek.

Etymology: perhaps originated by association of clag v. and cling v.¹