Aging

How to spell aging

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce aging

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aging mean?

1. nounThe process of growing older or becoming more mature over time.
2. adjectiveGrowing old or showing the effects of having grown older.

Aging in a sentence

• noun

  The cream promises to slow the visible aging of skin.

• adjective

  The company struggled to maintain its aging fleet of trucks.

• noun

  Aging of the population is straining the healthcare budget.

• adjective

  An aging relative may need help with everyday tasks.

Where does aging come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back through Old French aage to the Latin aetas, meaning 'a period of life' or 'an age', which itself grew from aevum, the Latin word for a lifetime or an unbroken stretch of time. English took the noun 'age' in the 1200s, and the verb 'to age', meaning to grow old or to mature, followed in the late medieval period. The form 'aging' is simply that verb with the -ing ending, dropping the silent final 'e' of 'age' before the suffix; the British convention keeps the 'e' and writes 'ageing', which is the heart of the spelling decision here. The very same aevum root survives in 'eternal' and 'medieval', a reminder that all these words circle the idea of stretches of time. The choice to drop the 'e' follows the usual rule that a silent 'e' disappears before a vowel-starting suffix, though 'age' is one of the words where writers hesitate because the 'g' can look as if it needs the 'e' to stay soft.

How the word is built

• age (root: length of life or time lived)
• -ing (verbal noun / participle suffix)

British and American spelling

Aging is the American spelling. British English spells it ageing.