From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang (“strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *strang (“severe, strict, rigorous, strong”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Danish and Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Faroese and Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Latin stringō (“tighten”). Related to strict and string.
The man was nearly drowned after a strong undercurrent swept him out to sea.
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For he was swift as swallow in her flight, And strong as Lyon in his lordly might.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
But what sight is that? It seems a town right in the river, each building standing upon its own foundation, with the deep, strong current of the river sweeping all around it? They are flouring mills operated by the natural current of the stream.1853 April 23, Warren Isham, “Notes from Hungary”, in Warren Isham, editor, The Michigan Farmer, volume XI, number 4:
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Capable of withstanding great physical force.
a strong foundation; good strong shoes
Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.1889, Friedrich Nietzsche, “Sprüche und Pfeile [Maxims and Arrows]”, in Götzen-Dämmerung, oder, Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert [Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer]:
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Broadly Possessing power, might, or strength.
A wise man is strong, yea a man of knowledge encreaseth strength.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 24:5:
Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea.1954, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “The Passage of the Marshes”, in The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings; 2), HarperCollinsPublishers, published 2001, page 619:
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Outgassing of oxygen is strongest when primary production rates are greatest; ingassing is at a maximum during net respiration.2010, Heinrich D Holland, Karl K. Turekian, Isotope Geochemistry:
“Homeownership,” says John H. Mollenkopf, executive director of the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York Graduate Center, “is the strongest predictor of being likely to turn out in local politics and being a bit more conservative and antitax in your general outlook.”2007 May 27, Sam Roberts, “In a City Known for Its Renters, a Record Number Now Own Their Homes”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021:
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Determined; unyielding.
The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Ideas are eternal; they hang in the stars, and a man must be brave and strong enough to reach up to the stars and fetch down the fire from heaven and to carry the torch among men.1934 March 23, Hermann Göring, Germany Reborn, page 47:
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It noted China was especially strong in the fast-growing area of “deep learning.”2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2019:
He is strong in the face of adversity.
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Highly stimulating to the senses.
a strong light; a strong taste
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Having an offensive or intense odor or flavor.
a strong smell
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Having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient.
She gets up, and pours herself a strong one. - Eagles, Lying Eyes
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Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Inflecting in a different manner than the one called weak, such as Germanic verbs which change vowels.
a strong verb
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Indo European studies, Especially, Of stems or inflected roots Of a form in which the accent is in the leftmost (first) slot allowed in the relevant paradigm, or reflecting an ancestral Proto-Indo-European form in which this was the case, as opposed to tending to shift to the right.
Paradigmatic slots in which the accent and correlating e-grade are positioned further to the left of the word are traditionally termed strong, those with accent and e-grade further to the right, are called weak. In all nouns and verbs which show these alternations, the strong and the weak forms are predictable from the morphological category […].2007, James Clackson, Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, section 3.5, page 79:
PIE strong stems were most frequently in the full grade (e-grade), less often in the o-grade (though more common in thematic nouns and stative verbs) and least often in the zero grade.
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Indo European studies, Especially, Of nouns and adjectives, Of stems or inflected roots In the nominative, accusative or vocative case, regardless of number, or sometimes in the locative singular.
Strong *dʰéh₁-mn̥, weak *dʰh₁-mén-.
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Indo European studies, Especially, Of verbs, Of stems or inflected roots Typically, of a conjugation which is singular and active; i.e., excluding dual and plural numbers and passive/middle voices.
Strong *dʰéh₁- (e.g. *dʰéh₁m̥ (“I put”), *dʰéh₁oh₂ (“I would put”)), weak *dʰh₁- (e.g. *dʰh₁ént (“they all put”), active participle *dʰh₁ónts, *dʰh₁tó (“(he/she/it) is placed”), middle participle *dʰh₁m̥h₁nós).
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Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences That completely ionizes into anions and cations in a solution.
You're working with troubled youth in your off time? That’s strong!
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Having a specified number of people or units.
The enemy's army force was five thousand strong.
Our armie will be forty thouſand ſtrong, When Tamburlain and braue Theridamas Haue met vs by the riuer Araris: And all conioin’d to meete the witleſſe King, That now is marching neere to Parthia.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene i:
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Of a disease or symptom Severe; very bad or intense.
Physicians may diagnosis influenza by a throat culture or blood test, which may be important if you have a particularly strong flu, if your doctor suspects pneumonia or a bacterial infection.2005, Andrew Gaeddert, Healing Immune Disorders: Natural Defense-Building Solutions, North Atlantic Books, page 221:
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Human sciences, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Sciences Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.)
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Of an argument Convincing.
[…] but grounding him ſelfe vpon ſtrong reaſons, to wit, that he had not offended the Iewes, neither yet the Law, but that he was innocēt, and therefore that no iudge oght to geue hym in the hādes of his ennemies […]1558, John Knox, The Appellation of Iohn Knoxe from the cruell and moſt iniuſt ſentence pronounced againſt him by the falſe biſhoppes and clergie of Scotland, page 11v:
From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang (“strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *strang (“severe, strict, rigorous, strong”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Danish and Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Faroese and Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Latin stringō (“tighten”). Related to strict and string.
1
Strong people, collectively.
Preceeded by "the"
strong
adv
Etymology
From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang (“strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *strang (“severe, strict, rigorous, strong”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Danish and Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Faroese and Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Latin stringō (“tighten”). Related to strict and string.