-ing¹

Forming nouns derived from verbs.

Old English ‑ung, ‑ing, of Germanic origin.

Such nouns express the action of a verb (fighting, muttering, shaving, thinking, working), often relating to some occupation or skill (banking, fencing, glassblowing, modelling, silversmithing, welding); sometimes they indicate a single instance of the action (a ruling, a scolding, a wedding). They may also denote a material used for a process, or associated with it (bedding, cladding, clothing, flooring, piping, wadding); a few of these are formed from other nouns without a corresponding verb (sacking, scaffolding). For nouns such as sibling or weakling, see ‑ling.