A ring is a round wrist strap, usually made of metal, that can be worn around fingers or toes as decorative jewelry; this is the most common current meaning of the word "ring.". Strictly speaking, a regular ring is a ring (possibly with a hyphen). Other types of rings used as ornaments are earrings, wrist bracelets, armbands or arm rings, toe rings and torc or neck rings, but the simple term "ring" is not usually used to refer to these, except perhaps toe rings.

Rings are usually made of metal, but can be made of almost any material: metal, plastic, stone, wood, bone, glass or gemstone. They may be inlaid with one or more gemstones, usually gemstones, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds.

Despite the use of right-hand fingers in some countries, in many parts of the world, the four or ring fingers of the left hand have become the preferred place to wear a wedding ring. This custom was actually a norm established during the Second World War.

The use of the left ring finger ("ring finger") is related to the old idea that the left ring finger is connected directly to the heart through a vein: the vena cava of love or the vein of love. The idea was well known in England in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Henry Swinburne mentioned it in his book on marriage. It dates back to ancient Rome, when AURUS gellius quoted appianus as saying that the ancient Egyptians had found a fine nerve connecting a particular finger to the heart.

Sometimes, the ring has been re used on bracelets or necklaces.