being

English

Alternative forms

• beeing (archaic)
• beïng (rare)

Etymology

Originated 1250–1300 from Middle English being; see be + -ing.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɪŋ/, /ˈbiːŋ/

  • Audio (London)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɪŋ/, /ˈbiŋ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iːɪŋ, -ɪŋ
• Hyphenation: be‧ing

Verb

being

1. present participle and gerund of be

Noun

being (countable and uncountable, plural beings)

1. A living creature.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Plain of Kôr”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 126:

     Minute grew into minute, and still there was no sign of life, nor did the curtain move; but I felt the gaze of the unknown being sinking through and through me, and filling me with a nameless terror, till the perspiration stood in beads upon my brow.

2. The state or fact of existence, consciousness, or life, or something in such a state.
   • 1608-1634, John Webster (and perhaps Thomas Heywood), Appius and Virginia

     Claudius, thou / Wast follower of his fortunes in his being.

   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:

     For the service to be considered was not the service of one servant, but of two servants, and even of three servants, and even of an infinity of servants, of whom the first could not out till the second up, nor the second up till the third in, nor the third in till the first out, nor the first out till the third in, nor the third in till the second up, nor the second up till the first out, every going, every being, every coming consisting with a being and a coming, a coming and a going, a going and a being, nay with all the beings and all the comings, with all the comings and all the goings, with all the goings and all the beings, of all the servants that had ever served Mr. Knott, of all the servants that ever would serve Mr. Knott.

3. (philosophy) That which has actuality (materially or in concept).
4. (philosophy) One's basic nature, or the qualities thereof; essence or personality.
5. (obsolete) An abode; a cottage.
   • 1712 December 5 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “MONDAY, November 24, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 544; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's servants] into little beings within my manor.

     The spelling has been modernized.

Synonyms

• (a living creature): See also Thesaurus:creature
• (the state or fact of existence): See also Thesaurus:existence

Derived terms

Translations

Conjunction

being

1. Given that; since.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
     , New York Review Books 2001, p.280:

     ’Tis a hard matter therefore to confine them, being they are so various and many .

Synonyms

• as, because, seeing that; see also Thesaurus:because

Derived terms

• being that

Translations

References

• “being”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “being”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "being" in the Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), K Dictionaries limited, 2000-2006.
• "being" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

See also

Anagrams

• Bengi, begin, binge

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peiŋʲkʲ/

Noun

being f (dative singular being or beingidh, genitive singular beinge, plural beingean)

1. bench, form