Downloading

How to spell downloading

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce downloading

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does downloading mean?

1. verbTransferring data or files from a remote system, such as the internet, onto a local device.

Downloading in a sentence

• Downloading the software update took most of the afternoon.

• The office wifi slowed to a crawl while everyone was downloading large attachments.

Where does downloading come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a modern computing compound made from two very old native English elements. 'Down' comes from Old English 'dune', a shortening of 'of dune' meaning 'off the hill' or 'in a downward direction', while 'load' comes from Old English 'lad', which first meant a way, course, or carrying, and only later came to mean the burden being carried. The two were joined in the 1970s to describe sending data 'down' from a large central computer to a smaller local one, with 'load' borrowing its older sense of transferring something. The present participle 'downloading' simply adds the -ing ending to that verb. Because both parts are familiar everyday words, the spelling holds no hidden trap; the only thing to remember is that it is written as a single solid word with the doubled 'o' coming from 'down' meeting 'load'.

How the word is built

• down (direction: from a remote system to a local one)
• load (to transfer or place a burden)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)