Betting

How to spell betting

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce betting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does betting mean?

1. verbRisking money or a stake on the outcome of an event whose result is uncertain.
2. nounThe activity of placing wagers, or the overall pattern of wagers on an event.

Betting in a sentence

• verb

  He kept betting on horses long after his savings ran low.

• noun

  The betting was heavy on the favourite before the race began.

• verb

  She swore off betting on football after a costly weekend.

• noun

  Online betting now accounts for most of the firm's revenue.

Where does betting come from?

Language of origin: Other

The word grows out of the verb 'bet', which surfaced in English in the late 1500s, and its origin is genuinely murky. The most widely accepted explanation is that 'bet' is a shortened form of the older noun 'abet', meaning support or backing, since to back a horse or a claim is to put your support behind it; 'abet' itself came through Old French abeter, 'to bait or urge on'. Because the verb ends in a single short vowel followed by a single consonant, English doubles that final 't' before the '-ing' ending is added, which is exactly why 'betting' carries two t's rather than one. The same doubling rule that catches writers in 'betting' also governs 'getting', 'setting', and 'fitting'. Scholars still flag the ultimate source as uncertain, so it is fair to say the word arrived without a fully documented pedigree.

How the word is built

• bet (to wager)
• -t- (doubled consonant)
• -ing (verb/noun suffix)