tongue and tung are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. tongue means “a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity”. tung means “Chinese tree bearing seeds that yield tung oil”. tongue is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈtʌŋ/
1.n.a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
2.n.a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language
3.n.any long thin projection that is transient
“tongues of flame licked at the walls”
/ˈtʌŋ/
| tongue | tung | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈtʌŋ/ | /ˈtʌŋ/ |
| Said | tuhng | tuhng |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 6 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Senses | 10 | 1 |
| How common | Core | Familiar |
| Synonyms | lingua, glossa, clapper | tung tree, tung-oil tree, Aleurites fordii |
Full entry for tongue · Full entry for tung · More comparisons
1.n.Chinese tree bearing seeds that yield tung oil