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expunction (n.)[expunction 词源字典]: c. 1600, from Latin expunctionem (nominative expunctio), noun of action from past participle stem of expungere "prick out, blot out, mark for deletion" (see expunge).[expunction etymology, expunction origin, 英语词源]
expunge (v.): c. 1600, from Latin expungere "prick out, blot out, mark (a name on a list) for deletion" by pricking dots above or below it, literally "prick out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + pungere "to prick, stab" (see pungent). According to OED, taken by early lexicographers in English to "denote actual obliteration by pricking;" it adds that the sense probably was influenced by sponge. Related: Expunged; expunging.
prick (v.): Old English prician "to prick, pierce, prick out, sting," from West Germanic *prikojan (cognates: Low German pricken, Dutch prikken "to prick"), of uncertain origin. Danish prikke "to mark with dots," Swedish pricka "to point, prick, mark with dots" probably are from Low German. Related: Pricked; pricking. To prick up one's ears is 1580s, originally of animals with pointed ears (prycke-eared, of foxes, is from 1520s).
sting (v.): Old English stingan "to stab, pierce, or prick with a point" (of weapons, insects, plants, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *stingan (cognates: Old Norse stinga, Old High German stungen "to prick," Gothic us-stagg "to prick out," Old High German stanga, German stange "pole, perch," German stengel "stalk, stem"), perhaps from PIE *stengh-, nasalized form of root *stegh- "to prick, sting" (cognates: Old English stagga "stag," Greek stokhos "pointed stake").

Specialized to insects late 15c. Intransitive sense "be sharply painful" is from 1848. Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" is from 1812. Old English past tense stang, past participle stungen; the past tense later leveled to stung.