Dealings

How to spell dealings

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce dealings

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dealings mean?

1. nounBusiness transactions or personal relations conducted with another person or organisation.

Dealings in a sentence

• The company's financial dealings were reviewed by an independent auditor.

• He kept a careful record of all his dealings with the supplier.

Where does dealings come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word 'deal' comes from the Old English verb 'dǣlan', which meant 'to divide, distribute, or share out', itself related to 'dǣl', a part or portion (the same root that gives us the modern noun 'deal' as a quantity, as in 'a great deal'). Over time the sense of dividing and apportioning broadened into the idea of doing business or handing things back and forth between people, which is why 'deal' came to mean 'to trade' or 'to negotiate'. The plural 'dealings' developed as a noun naming the ongoing transactions or relations someone has with others, and it has been used in this commercial and social sense since the Middle Ages. The word is firmly Germanic, with close cousins in Dutch 'deel' and German 'Teil', both meaning 'part'. The spelling stays regular here: it is simply 'deal' plus the everyday '-ings' ending, with no silent letters or doubled consonants to trip over.

How the word is built

• deal (to distribute, do business)
• -ing (action noun)
• -s (plural)