c. 1300, "act of putting to death on the gallows," verbal noun from hang (v.). Meaning "piece of drapery on the wall of a room" is late 15c. Hangings "curtains, tapestry" is from 1640s.
late 12c., present participle adjective from hang (v.). Hanging gardens (of Babylon), one of the wonders of the world, is Latin pensiles horti, Greek kremastoi kepoi. Hanging judge first recorded 1848.
