The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly derived from Middle English *pange, perhaps an altered form of prange, prōnge (“affliction, agony, pain; pointed instrument”) as in prongys of deth (“pangs of death, death throes”), from Anglo-Latin pronga, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with Middle Dutch prange, pranghe (“instrument for pinching”) (modern Dutch prang (“horse restraint; fetter, neck iron”)), Middle Low German prange (“pole, stake; (possibly) kind of pillory or stocks”), Old English pyngan (“to prick”). The word may thus be related to prong. The verb is derived from the noun.
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In plural, Often A paroxysm of extreme physical pain or anguish; a feeling of sudden and transitory agony; a throe.
War[wick]. See how the pangs of death do make him grin. / Sal[isbury]. Diſturbe him not, let him paſſe peaceably.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 137, column 1:
He is knight dubb'd with vnhatche'd Rapier, and on carpet conſideration, but he is a diuell in priuate brall, soules and bodies hath he diuorc'd three, and his incenſement at this moment is ſo implacable, that ſatisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and ſepulcher: Hob, nob, is his word: giu't or take't.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 269:
4 more examples
But, oh! what pangs torment the deſtin’d heart, / That feels the wound, yet dare not ſhow the dart; / What eaſe could Ovid to his ſorrows give, / Who muſt not ſpeak, and therefore cannot live?a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Written in Lady Howe’s Ovid’s Epistles”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior, Esq. […], Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son, […], published 1793, →OCLC; republished in Robert Anderson, editor, The Works of the British Poets. […], volume VII, London: Printed for John & Arthur Arch; and for Bell & Bradfute, and J. Mundell & Co. Edinburgh, 1795, →OCLC, page 456, column 1:
"Will it hurt much?"—"No, mine own: / I wish I could bear the pang for both." / "I wish I could bear the pang alone: / Courage, dear, I am not loth."1862, Christina Rossetti, “In the Round Tower at Jhansi, June 8, 1857”, in Goblin Market and Other Poems, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; London: Macmillan & Co., […], →OCLC, page 31:
So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and the thorn touched her heart, and a fierce pang of pain shot through her. Bitter, bitter was the pain, and wilder and wilder grew her song, for she sang of the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb.1888 May, Oscar Wilde, “The Nightingale and the Rose”, in The Happy Prince and Other Tales, London: David Nutt, […], →OCLC, pages 37–38:
For Lucifer, as Lord of Fire, was thought to suffer the most terrible pangs whenever the element of fire, over which he presided, was convulsed or agitated.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 117:
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In plural, Often A sudden sharp feeling of an emotional or mental nature, as of joy or sorrow.
He had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe?" It sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met; but he knew what path lay straight before him, and he took it.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 158–159:
He was startled with a piece of information which gave him such an exquisite pang of delight that he could hardly keep the usual quiet of his demeanor.1867 February, [Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.], “The Guardian Angel”, in The Atlantic Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics, volume XIX, number CXII, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, […], →OCLC, chapter VII (Myrtle’s Letter.—The Young Men’s Pursuit.), page 141, column 2:
1 more example
Unfortunately, in the hurry of leaving home, he had forgotten to provide himself with food, and at lunch time found himself attacked by the pangs of hunger.1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 18:
The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly derived from Middle English *pange, perhaps an altered form of prange, prōnge (“affliction, agony, pain; pointed instrument”) as in prongys of deth (“pangs of death, death throes”), from Anglo-Latin pronga, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with Middle Dutch prange, pranghe (“instrument for pinching”) (modern Dutch prang (“horse restraint; fetter, neck iron”)), Middle Low German prange (“pole, stake; (possibly) kind of pillory or stocks”), Old English pyngan (“to prick”). The word may thus be related to prong. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
To cause to have great pain or suffering; to torment, to torture.
Yet if that quarrell, Fortune, to diuorce / It from the bearer, 'tis a ſufferance, panging / As ſoule and bodies ſeuering.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 214, column 2:
And perhaps a not altogether false little story could be written about a man who never visited those most dear to him, because it panged him so to say good-bye when he had to leave.1919, Christopher Morley, “On Unanswering Letters”, in Mince Pie: Adventures on the Sunny Side of Grub Street, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC, page 40: