• -in',-in(colloquial)
• -ïng(rare ornonstandard)

• IPA^(key):/ɪŋ/,/ɪn/,/ən/

  • Audio(Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio(US):

    (file)

• (southern North West England, northernWest Midlands,Derbyshire, SouthYorkshire,Kent)IPA^(key):/ɪŋɡ/^[1]
• (Kent, some dialects ofGeneral Australian)IPA^(key):/ɪŋk/,/ɪŋɡ/
  • Homophone:ink
• (US andCanada, sometimes)IPA^(key):/in/,/iŋ/^[2]
  • Homophone:een

Inherited fromMiddle English-ing, fromOld English-ing,-ung(“-ing”,suffix forming nouns from verbs), fromProto-West Germanic*-ingu,*-ungu, fromProto-Germanic*-ingō,*-ungō. Cognate withSaterland Frisian-enge(“-ing”),West Frisian-ing(“-ing”),Dutch-ing(“-ing”),Low German-ung,-ing,-ink(“-ing”),German-ung(“-ing”),Danish-ing(“-ing”),Swedish-ing(“-ing”),Icelandic-ing(“-ing”).

Unrelated toBrahui-اِنْگ(-iṅg,“-ing”).

-ing

2. Used to formnouns 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. Asgerunds.

      Smoking is bad for your health.

      She has a habit of sleeping late.

      I like meeting people.

3. 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.

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

theactivating of the weapon must be stopped

the act ofactivating the weapon must be stopped

theactivation 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 isact, cognate withaction.

There was formerly a tendency for the final vowel of a word to contract when this suffix was added; hencecarrying/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/).^[3]The same kind of analogy has resulted in pronunciations ofbottling such as/ˈbɒtəlɪŋ/,/ˈbɒtəlɪn/ (for earlier/ˈbɒtlɪŋ/,/ˈbɒtlɪn/).

• (act of doing something, action):-tion,-ment
• (activity):-ery,-ment
• (collection):-age,-ery

(collection):

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

• (collection):work

FromMiddle English-inge,-ynge, alteration of earlier-inde,-ende,-and (see-and), fromOld English-ende(present participle ending), fromProto-West Germanic*-andī, fromProto-Germanic*-andz(present participle ending), fromProto-Indo-European*-onts.

Cognate withWest Frisian-end,Dutch-end,Afrikaans-ende,German-end,Low German-end,Swedish-and,Icelandic-andi,Gothic-𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃(-ands),-𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃(-ōnds),Latin-ans,-ant-,Ancient Greek-ων(-ōn),Sanskrit-अन्त्(-ant),Polish-ący,-ąc,Czech-oucí,Ukrainian-учий(-učyj),Serbo-Croatian-ući/-ући. More at-and.

-ing

2. Used to formpresent participles ofverbs.

   Rolling stones gather no moss.

   You are making a mess.

   I wondered what time the play was starting.

   Anybody touching this wire will get a deadly shock.

   When it occurred, I was flying to New York a great deal.

   We were dancing from midnight until three o’clock.

   • a.2001, Brian Hall, “Beej's Guide to Network Programming”, “Using Internet Sockets”

     If you areconnect()ing to a remote machine[…]you can simply callconnect(), it'll check to see if the socket is unworthy, and willbind() it to an unused local port if necessary.

FromMiddle English-ing, fromOld English-ing, fromProto-West Germanic*-ing, fromProto-Germanic*-ingaz. Akin toOld Norse-ingr.

-ing

1. (no longerproductive)Formingderivative nouns (originally masculine), with thesense ‘son of,belonging to’, as inplacenames,patronymics ordiminutives;-ite.

   Ealing,Dorking,Reading,Worthing

   Browning,Channing,Ewing

   ‎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

• -ed

• James A. H. Murrayet al., editors (1884–1928), “-ing¹”, inA New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumeV (H–K), London:Clarendon Press,→OCLC,pages281–282.
• James A. H. Murrayet al., editors (1884–1928), “-ing²”, inA New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumeV (H–K), London:Clarendon Press,→OCLC,page282.
• James A. H. Murrayet al., editors (1884–1928), “-ing³”, inA New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumeV (H–K), London:Clarendon Press,→OCLC,page282, column 2.

• IGN,Gin,gin,nig,NGI,GNI

• -ning

FromOld Norse-ing,-ung, fromProto-Germanic*-ingō,*-ungō.

• IPA^(key):[eŋ]

-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

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

• IPA^(key):/ɪŋ/

Inherited fromMiddle Dutch-inge, fromOld Dutch-inga,-unga,-onga, fromProto-West Germanic*-ingu,*-ungu, fromProto-Germanic*-ungō.

-ing f (plural-ingen,diminutive-inkjeor-ingetje)

1. Createsaction nouns referring to theperformance of a verb, or theresult thereof.

FromMiddle Dutch-inc, fromOld Dutch-ing, fromProto-West Germanic*-ing, fromProto-Germanic*-ingaz.

• -inck,-ink

-ing m

1. (no longerproductive)Forms nouns for a person originating from a place or family.

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

• -üng

-ing

1. (Erzgebirgisch)-ing

Borrowed fromEnglish-ing.

• IPA^(key):/iŋ(ɡ)/
• (Canada)IPA^(key):/ɪŋ/

-ing m (plural-ings)

1. Used to formverbal nouns from verbs

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

-ing

1. plural marker

   amul(“woman”) :amuling(“women”)

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

Borrowed fromEnglish-ing. Doublet of native-ung.

-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.

   Extremsparing ―extreme saving: saving money as a sport

   Cloud-Abwasching ―cloud 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 [only a mentioning]

     Typen von Anglizismen: vonder heilago geist bisExtremsparing – aufgezeigt anhand ausgewählter lexikographischer Kategorisierungen.

     Types of anglicisms: fromder heilago geist [Old High German for “the Holy Spirit”] toextreme saving – illustrated by means of selected lexicographic categorisations.

   • 2012, Hans Zippert, “Wir verlagern das ganze Leben in die Internetwolke”, inWebsite ofDie 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.

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

Inherited fromMiddle Low German-inc, fromOld Saxon-ing, fromProto-West Germanic*-ing, fromProto-Germanic*-ingaz.

-ing

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

• 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.

• Bläuming
• Bräuding =Brüderchen (little brother)
• Dirning =Dirnken <Dirn (young girl)
• Döchting =Töchterchen (little daughter)
• fixing
• Körling
• Nahwersching
• nipping

• -ken
• (East Frisian)-je,-tje,-ke

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

• IPA^(key):[iŋɡ]

-ing

1. (frequentative suffix)Added to averb or to anonomatopoeic stem to form averb denoting repetitive action.

   kering(“to circulate, orbit”)

• (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”)

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

• -ng in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.).Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, page 568,→ISBN.  (See alsoits 2nd edition.)

Inherited fromOld Norse-ing, fromProto-Germanic*-ingō,*-ungō.

-ing f (noun-forming suffix,genitive singular-ingar,nominative plural-ingar)

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

Inherited fromOld English-ing,-ung, fromProto-West Germanic*-ungu, fromProto-Germanic*-ingō,*-ungō.

• -inge,-yng,-ynge,-ingue,-inng,-ung,-unge,-eng,-enge

• (mainly Early ME)IPA^(key):/unɡ/,[uŋɡ]
• IPA^(key):/inɡ/,[iŋɡ]

-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)".

• English:-ing,-in',-in
• Scots:-in,-in',-ing
• Yola:-een,-en

• “-ing(e,suf.(1).”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved2018-06-27.

FromOld English-ing, fromProto-West Germanic*-ing, fromProto-Germanic*-ingaz.

• IPA^(key):/inɡ/,[iŋɡ]

-ing

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

• English:-ing,-in'
• Scots:-in,-in',-ing

• “-ing,suf.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007, retrieved2018-06-27.

Inherited fromOld Norse-ingr m,-ingi m,-ing f, fromProto-Germanic*-ingō,*-ungō.

• IPA^(key):/ɪŋ/
• Rhymes:-ɪŋ

-ingm orf orm (see below)

1. Used to formverbal nouns from verbs;-ing.

   Han var lei avmasing. ―He was tired ofnagging.

2. Used to formdemonyms.

   ‎Færøyene + ‎-ing → ‎færøying

The gender is usuallym orf (in Bokmål) if the word ended in-ing in Old Norse andm if it ended in-ingr or-ingi. Living things likeislending(“Icelander”) anddumming(“idiot”) are usuallym whilst inanimate things likestråling(“radiation”) andeting(“the act of eating”) usually arem orf.