Approaching

How to spell approaching

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce approaching

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does approaching mean?

1. verbComing nearer to something in distance, time, or degree.
2. adjectiveComing closer; soon to arrive.

Approaching in a sentence

• verb

  The train was approaching the station as the rain began.

• adjective

  The approaching storm forced them to cancel the picnic.

• verb

  With the deadline approaching, she worked through the weekend.

• adjective

  Drivers slowed for the approaching junction.

Where does approaching come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Late Latin verb appropiare, meaning 'to come near' or 'to draw close', which was built from the prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and the adjective prope, meaning 'near'. The same prope sits behind the English word 'propinquity', a formal term for nearness. The Latin verb passed into Old French as aprochier, and English borrowed it in the 1300s as 'approach', first in the literal sense of physically moving nearer to something. Over time the sense broadened to cover drawing near in time, in quantity, or in similarity, as well as the figurative idea of dealing with a problem. The present participle 'approaching' simply adds the -ing ending; the doubled 'p' reflects the assimilation of the Latin prefix ad- against the 'p' of prope, which is the part writers most often second-guess.

How the word is built

• ap- (from Latin ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward')
• -proach (from Latin prope, 'near')
• -ing (present participle suffix)