-ing

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪŋ/, /ɪn/, /ən/
  • (UK) (southern North West England, northern West Midlands, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, Kent) IPA(key): /ɪŋɡ/
  • (UK) (Kent) IPA(key): /ɪŋk/, /ɪŋɡ/
  • (US and Canada, sometimes) IPA(key): /in/, /iŋ/, /ɪn/
  • (US, Canada) Homophone: een (some dialects)
  • (file)
  • (UK, General Australian) Homophone: ink (some dialects)
  • (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English -ing, from Old English -ing, -ung (-ing, suffix forming nouns from verbs), from Proto-West Germanic *-ingu, *-ungu, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō. Cognate with Saterland Frisian -enge (-ing), West Frisian -ing (-ing), Dutch -ing (-ing), Low German -ing, -ink (-ing), German -ung (-ing), Danish -ing (-ing), Swedish -ing (-ing), Icelandic -ing (-ing).

Suffix

-ing

  1. Used to form nouns or noun-like words (or elements of noun phrases) from verbs, denoting the act of doing something, an action, or the embodiment of an action.
    1. As true nouns.
      My hearing is not good.
      I have had several meetings with him.
    2. As gerunds.
      Smoking is bad for your health.
      She has a habit of sleeping late.
      I like meeting people.
  2. Used to form nouns denoting materials or systems of objects which are used or employed in an action, or considered collectively.
    Roofing is material that is used to roof.
    Clothing is material with which one is clothed.
    The piping is a system of pipes considered collectively.
Usage notes

Compare -tion, which can be applied to some (Latinate) nouns with almost the same meaning:

the activating of the weapon must be stopped
the act of activating the weapon must be stopped
the activation of the weapon must be stopped

In the first and third phrases the words in bold are nouns, while in the second phrase the word in bold is a gerund and the noun is act, cognate with action.

There was formerly a tendency for the final vowel of a word to contract when this suffix was added; hence carrying /ˈkæɹ(j)ɪŋ/, /ˈkæɹ(j)ɪn/, following /ˈfɒlwɪŋ/, /ˈfɒlwɪn/, but analogy has usually now resulted in restoration of the full form (e.g. /ˈkæɹi.ɪŋ/, /ˈfɒloʊ.ɪn/). The same kind of analogy has resulted in pronunciations of bottling such as /ˈbɒtəlɪŋ/, /ˈbɒtəlɪn/ (for earlier /ˈbɒtlɪŋ/, /ˈbɒtlɪn/).

Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

The translations below are a guide only. See individual words for precise translations.

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English -inge, -ynge, alteration of earlier -inde, -ende, -and (see -and), from Old English -ende (present participle ending), from Proto-West Germanic *-andī, from Proto-Germanic *-andz (present participle ending), from Proto-Indo-European *-onts.

Cognate with West Frisian -end, Dutch -end, German -end, Swedish -and, Icelandic -andi, Gothic -𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (-ands), -𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (-ōnds), Latin -ans, -ant-, Ancient Greek -ων (-ōn), Sanskrit -अन्त् (-ant). More at -and.

Suffix

-ing

  1. Used to form present participles of verbs.
    Rolling stones gather no moss.
    You are making a mess.
    • a. 2001, Brian Hall, “Beej's Guide to Network Programming”, “Using Internet Sockets”
      If you are connect()ing to a remote machine you can simply call connect(), it'll check to see if the socket is unworthy, and will bind() it to an unused local port if necessary.
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Proto-West Germanic *-ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz. Akin to Old Norse -ingr.

Suffix

-ing

  1. (no longer productive) Forming derivative nouns (originally masculine), with the senseson of, belonging to’, as in placenames, patronymics or diminutives; -ite.
    Middle English *bunt + ‎-ing → ‎bunting
    skill + ‎-ing → ‎shilling
    fourth + ‎-ing → ‎farthing
  2. Forming nouns having a specified quality, characteristic, or nature; of the kind of
    sweet + ‎-ing → ‎sweeting
    white + ‎-ing → ‎whiting
    geld + ‎-ing → ‎gelding
Derived terms

See also

References

  1. ^ Orton, H. et al., The Linguistic Atlas of England, Croom Helm, London: 1978.
  2. ^ Allan Metcalf, How We Talk: American Regional English, Houghton Mifflin, Boston: 2000, p 143
  3. ^ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 9.812, page 275.

Further reading

Anagrams

Danish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Norse -ing, -ung, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing c (singular definite -ingen, plural indefinite -inger)

  1. added to a verb to form a noun for an action or process, the result of or the subject performing such action
  2. designates a person of a certain origin or with certain qualities

Declension

Synonyms

  • (added to a verb to form a noun for an action or process): -else, -tion

Derived terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch -inge, from Old Dutch -inga, -unga, -onga, from Proto-West Germanic *-ingu, *-ungu, from Proto-Germanic *-ungō.

Suffix

-ing f (plural -ingen, diminutive -inkje or -ingetje)

  1. Creates action nouns referring to the performance of a verb, or the result thereof.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch -inc, from Old Dutch -ing, from Proto-West Germanic *-ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz.

Alternative forms

Suffix

-ing m

  1. (no longer productive) Forms nouns for a person originating from a place or family.
Usage notes

The suffix is no longer productive and is not generally recognised in this meaning. It is found in many place names and surnames, however.

French

Etymology

From English -ing.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing m (plural -ings)

  1. Used to form verbal nouns from verbs

Usage notes

  • Most terms suffixed with -ing are borrowed directly from English, but some are not (e.g., surbooking, relooking).

Fuyug

Noun

-ing

  1. plural marker
    amul (woman) : amuling (women)

References

  • Robert L. Bradshaw, Fuyug grammar sketch (2007)

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English -ing. Doublet of native -ung.

Suffix

-ing n (genitive -ings, plural -ings)

  1. (in English borrowings) -ing
  2. (productive, colloquial, humorous) Used to form verbal nouns which jocularly imply that something is a sport, trend, or fashionable concept.
    Extremsparingextreme saving: saving money as a sport
    Cloud-Abwaschingcloud dish washing: dish washing following the cloud principle
    • 2001, Ulrich Busse, Typen von Anglizismen, in: Gerhard von Stickel (ed.), Neues und Fremdes im deutschen Wortschatz, De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, p. 131-155
      Typen von Anglizismen: von der heilago geist bis Extremsparing – aufgezeigt anhand ausgewählter lexikographischer Kategorisierungen.
      Types of anglicisms: from der heilago geist to extreme saving – illustrated by means of selected lexicographic categorisations.
    • 2012, Hans Zippert, “Wir verlagern das ganze Leben in die Internetwolke”, in Website of Die Welt:
      Beim Cloud-Abwasching wird das schmutzige Geschirr einfach ausgelagert, damit es keinen Speicherplatz in der Spüle wegnimmt und jeder darauf zugreifen kann, der die Lizenz zum Abwasch hat.
      In cloud dish washing, the dirty crockery is simply swapped out, so it doesn’t take up any memory in the kitchen sink and everybody who has a wash-up licence can access it.

Usage notes

  • Productive use is chiefly restricted to ad-hoc formations (such as the two examples above).

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing

  1. (frequentative suffix) Added to a verb or to an onomatopoeic stem to form a verb denoting repetitive action.
    kering (to circulate, orbit)

Usage notes

  • (frequentative suffix) Variants:
    -ong is added to back-vowel words
    hajol (to bend) + ‎-ing → ‎hajlong (to bow repetitively)
    -eng is added to unrounded front-vowel words
    derül (to clear up) + ‎-ing → ‎dereng (to dawn; to appear vaguely)
    -öng is added to rounded front-vowel words
    őrül (to go insane) + ‎-ing → ‎őrjöng (to be wild, furious, raging)
    düh (fury, rage) + ‎-ing → ‎dühöng (to be in a raging temper)
    -ang is added to back-vowel words (rare)
    lappang (to lurk)
    -ing is added to front-vowel words (rare)
    kering (to circulate, orbit)

Derived terms

See also

References

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse -ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō.

Suffix

-ing f

  1. -ing; Indicates an action performed by a verb.

Derived terms

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German -inc, from Old Saxon -ing, from Proto-West Germanic *-ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz.

Suffix

-ing

  1. (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) Used to form diminutives.

Usage notes

  • Nouns derived with this suffix are neuters and their plural end in -ings.
  • The suffix can not only be added to nouns, but also to other parts of speech like adverbs.

Derived terms

See also

References

  • Carl Friedrich Müller, Zur Sprache Fritz Reuters: ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der mecklenburgischen Mundart, Leipzig: Max Hesse Verlag, 1902, pp. 41-2, 47.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English -ing, -ung, from Proto-West Germanic *-ungu, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing

  1. Forms gerunds from verbs, typically referring to the process of performing the verb, but also referring to the effect of the verb, what the verb affects, the capability or permission of performing the verb, or that which performs the verb.
  2. Forms collective nouns from verbs meaning "to utilise (a given thing)".
Derived terms
Descendants
  • English: -ing, -in', -in
  • Scots: -in, -in', -ing
References

Etymology 2

From Old English -ing, from Proto-West Germanic *-ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing

  1. Forms diminutives; these can be either affective or insulting.
  2. (marginally productive) Forms nouns meaning "son of".
Descendants
References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse -ingr m, -ingi m, -ing f, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing m or f or m (see below)

  1. Used to form verbal nouns from verbs; -ing.
    Han var lei av masing.He was tired of nagging
  2. Used to form demonyms.
    Færøyene + ‎-ing → ‎færøying

Usage notes

The gender is usually m or f (in Bokmål) if the word ended in -ing in Old Norse and m if it ended in -ingr or -ingi. Living things like islending (Icelander) and dumming (idiot) are usually m whilst inanimate things like stråling (radiation) and eting (the act of eating) usually are m or f.

Derived terms

See also

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse -ing f.

Suffix

-ing f

  1. Used to form verbal nouns from verbs; -ing.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse -ingr m, -ingi m.

Suffix

-ing m

  1. Used to form demonyms.
    Færøyane + ‎-ing → ‎færøying

See also

References

Ojibwe

Final

-ing

  1. used in certain adverbs

Derived terms

References

Suffix

-ing

  1. A suffix denoting the locative form of a noun

See also

Old English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Variant of -ung.

Alternative forms

Suffix

-ing f

  1. Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action, process or material.
Declension
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *-ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz.

Suffix

-ing m

  1. Forming derivatives of nouns with sense of ‘belonging to, son of’.
Derived terms

Old Norse

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō.

Suffix

-ing f

  1. Forms gerund nouns from verbs

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

See also

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse -ing, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō.

Suffix

-ing

  1. Forms gerund nouns from verbs

Declension

Descendants

Ottawa

Suffix

-ing

  1. locative

References

Jerry Randolph Valentine (2001) Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar, University of Toronto, page 194

Scots

Suffix

-ing

  1. Alternative form of -in (ing)

Spanish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English -ing.

Suffix

-ing m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ings)

  1. forms verbal nouns from verbs

Usage notes

  • Most terms suffixed with -ing are borrowed directly from English, but some are not (e.g., footing (pseudo-anglicism), puenting, edredoning).

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Derived terms

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish -ing, -ung, from Old Norse -ing, -ung, from Proto-Germanic *-ingō, *-ungō. Cognate to German -ung.

Suffix

-ing c or f

  1. Used to form verbal nouns from verbs; -ation.
Derived terms
Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish -inger, from Old Norse -ingr, from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz. Cognate with Icelandic -ingur, English -ing (derivative suffix).

Suffix

-ing c or m

  1. (rarely productive) added to a noun stem, causing i-mutation (if applicable), forming a noun denoting an inhabitant or original of a particular place, a descendant of a person, etc.; -er, -ite. See also -ling.
    Skåne (Scania) + ‎-ing → ‎skåning (a Scanian)
    Island (Iceland) + ‎-ing → ‎islänning (an Icelander)
  2. (rarely productive) diminutive suffix
    get (goat) + ‎-ing → ‎geting (a wasp)
    släkt ((extended) family) + ‎-ing → ‎släkting (a relative)
    galen (crazy) + ‎-ing → ‎galning (a crazy person, lunatic, madman)
Derived terms

Anagrams

Tagalog

Alternative forms

  • -ngfor roots ending in vowels

Etymology

Possibly from Spanish -ín. Compare tsikiting with Spanish chiquitín and list of Derived terms.

Pronunciation

Suffix

-ing (proper noun-forming suffix, Baybayin spelling ᜒᜅ᜔)

  1. diminutive suffix, used to form diminutives ending in consonants, especially given names, often one already shortened or with a diminutive suffix.

Derived terms

See also

Uzbek

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Suffix

postconsonantal -ing
postvocalic -ng

-ing (-инг)

  1. second-person singular possessive suffix. Used after a noun ending in a consonant. It has the same meaning as sening (your) placed before a noun.
    Bu kitobing.This is your book.

Usage notes

When directly addressing another person, it is polite to use the plural -ingiz or -ngiz forms.