Blazing

How to spell blazing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce blazing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does blazing mean?

1. adjectiveBurning fiercely, or extremely hot, bright, or intense.

Blazing in a sentence

• Firefighters struggled to control the blazing warehouse before it spread.

• We crossed the desert under a blazing afternoon sun.

Where does blazing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word traces back to the Old English noun 'blæse', meaning a torch or a bright flame, which belongs to a wider Germanic family of words for shining and burning. From the flame sense came the verb 'to blaze', describing fire that burns fiercely and brightly, and 'blazing' is simply its present participle pressed into service as an adjective. Over the centuries the word broadened from literal fire to figurative heat, so a 'blazing' sun, a 'blazing' temper, or a 'blazing' argument all draw on the same image of fierce, bright burning. A separate older 'blaze' meaning a white mark on an animal or a notch cut into a tree comes from a related Germanic root for something shining or conspicuous, but the fire sense is the one behind 'blazing'. The spelling keeps the silent 'e' of 'blaze' hidden: when '-ing' is added the 'e' is dropped, so it is 'blazing' and never 'blazeing', which is the small trap worth remembering.

How the word is built

• blaze (flame, bright fire)
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)