Begging

How to spell begging

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce begging

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does begging mean?

1. verbAsking for something earnestly or humbly, especially money, food, or a favour.

Begging in a sentence

• The children were begging for an extra hour before bedtime.

• A thin man stood near the station begging for spare change.

Where does begging come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'beg', which surfaced in Middle English as 'beggen' meaning to ask for alms or to plead earnestly. The deeper origin is genuinely uncertain, and scholars have long debated it; one respected suggestion connects it to the Old English 'bedecian', meaning to beg, while another links it to the medieval religious mendicants known as Beghards and Beguines, lay communities famous for living on charity. Whatever the exact route, the word always carried the sense of humbly asking, especially for food, money, or mercy. The spelling trap lives entirely in the suffix: because 'beg' ends in a single stressed vowel followed by a single consonant, that final 'g' doubles when '-ing' is added, giving 'begging' rather than 'beging'. The same doubling rule explains relatives like 'jogging' and 'running', so remembering the pattern fixes the spelling.

How the word is built

• beg (root: to ask earnestly)
• -g- (doubled consonant before suffix)
• -ing (present participle/gerund)