Other forms: rungs
A rung is one of the crossbars of a ladder. The top rung, missed a rung, climb rung by rung.
It is the step you stand on, and the spacing between rungs is standardised so that climbing is rhythmic rather than a guess. Figuratively, a rung is a level on any ladder of progress: the bottom rung of the career ladder, moving up a rung. Note that rung is also the past participle of ring, which is a different word entirely — the bell has rung.
1nounrungOne of the crossbars of a ladder.
“He put his foot on the bottom rung and began to climb the ladder.”
2nounlevelA level on a ladder of progress.
“She reached the top rung of her profession before she was forty.”
rung is a step or level.
Old English hrung meant a rod or staff. The German Runge, a stake, is the same word, and it has nothing to do with the past tense of ring.
Proto-Germanic
*hrungō
Proto-West Germanic
*hrungu
Old English
hrung
Middle English
rung
English, today
rung
From Middle English rung, from Old English hrung, from Proto-West Germanic hrungu, from Proto-Germanic hrungō. Cognate with Dutch rong (“pole, stanchion”), German Runge (“stake, pole, stanchion”), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌰 (“a staff”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA