What is the difference between Hung, Hanged?

By Ranjana S. 

Anything which is suspended is hung.

Pictures are hung on the wall; the clothes were hung out on the line to dry; A person has hung from a treetop if he has remained suspended there; the icicles have hung from the window since the snowstorm.

Hanged, on the other hand, is used to describe execution by hanging.

The judge orders the murderer to be hanged by the neck until dead.

The army has hanged the spy.

Hanged is,then, synonymous with killed.

A person who has hanged himself has committed suicide. 

The murderer was hanged and his corpse hung from the gibbet until it was cut down.

Look at the examples:

• If the murderer is caught, he'll be hanged.
• He hung from the window all day watching the sights on the street.
• Her stockings hung down over her shoes.
• Why have they hanged the prisoner?
• The downtrodden and terminally ill patient hanged himself.

However, there are several other related uses, for example:

• To continue to try to do something although it is very difficult. – Hang it there! (idiom)
•   To let droop or fall – hang your head in shame.
•   To fall in a certain way – this costume hangs well.
•   To pay attention to – I hang on your every word.
•   To hold on tightly – My daughter is hanging onto my skirt.
•   A way of doing something – She couldn’t get the hang of it. (hang as a noun)
•   To be oppressive – a cloud of gloom hangs over him.