Go to 'thermo-' entry Go to 'dino-' entry Go to 'chondro-' entry Go to 'aero-' entry Go to '-logy' entry Go to 'thaumato-' entry Go to 'nano-' entry Go to '-sophy' entry Go to 'bucco-' entry Go to '-ism' entry Go to '-lysis' entry Go to 'galacto-' entry Go to '-anthropy' entry Go to 'pneumo-' entry Go to '-ploitation' entry Go to '-lithic' entry Go to '-sepalous' entry Go to 'onco-' entry Go to '-parous' entry Go to 'dermato-' entry Go to 'multi-' entry Go to 'dodeca-' entry Go to '-zoon' entry Go to 'vermi-' entry Go to 'crystallo-' entry Go to 'biblio-' entry Go to 'eco-' entry Go to 'juxta-' entry Go to 'facio-' entry
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
  Home Introduction About the author Types of affixes Thematic indexes Search the site   A B C D E F G H I JK L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z   Previous entry Next entry Up to index of I  

-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.

Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.