singe

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To burn something slightly on the surface.

   I singed my eyebrows when I leaned too close to the fire.

2. 2
   noun

   A slight burn on the surface of something.

   There was a small singe on the edge of the curtain.

From Middle English sengen, from Old English senġan, sænċġan (“to singe, burn slightly, scorch, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *sangijan (“to burn, torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *senk- (“to burn”). Cognate with West Frisian singe, sinzje (“to singe”), Saterland Frisian soange (“to singe”), Dutch zengen (“to singe, scorch”), German Low German sengen (“to singe”), German sengen (“to singe, scorch”), Icelandic sangur (“singed, burnt, scorched”).

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