Building

How to spell building

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce building

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does building mean?

1. nounA permanent structure with walls and a roof, such as a house, office, or factory.
2. nounThe activity or process of constructing something.

Building in a sentence

• The office building has twelve floors and two lifts.

• The building of the new bridge took almost three years.

• Fire wardens checked that everyone had left the building.

• Building a loyal customer base requires patience and trust.

Where does building come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English verb byldan, meaning 'to construct a dwelling', which was itself formed from the noun bold, an early word for a house or settled home. The unusual 'ui' spelling is a fossil of that Old English vowel, which is why the word looks less regular than its plain pronunciation suggests. By the late Middle Ages the verb 'build' had broadened from making houses to constructing almost anything, and the form 'building' came to name both the activity of constructing and, from around the 1400s, the finished structure itself. It is a thoroughly native Germanic word with no Latin or French detour, sharing its roots with everyday English rather than borrowed vocabulary. The lasting trap for adults is simply that the 'ui' sequence is spelled the same in 'build', 'built', and 'guild', even though nothing in the sound announces the silent feel of that vowel pair.

How the word is built

• build (from Old English byldan: to construct)
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)