Ending

How to spell ending

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ending

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ending mean?

1. nounThe final part or conclusion of something, such as a story, event, or period.
2. verbThe present participle or gerund of 'end', meaning bringing or coming to a close.

Ending in a sentence

• noun

  The film had a surprising ending that audiences loved.

• verb

  Ending the contract early would cost the company a heavy penalty.

• noun

  A happy ending made the long novel worthwhile.

• verb

  She kept ending every email with the same polite phrase.

Where does ending come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English noun 'ende', which meant a limit, a boundary, or the final part of something, and it shares a common Germanic ancestry with the Dutch 'einde' and the German 'Ende'. The suffix '-ing' was attached to form an abstract noun, a pattern Old English used freely to turn an action or state into a thing, much as in 'building' or 'meeting'. The verb 'end', meaning to bring to a close, comes from the same root, so 'ending' simply names the act or the point of finishing. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years because both parts, the plain root 'end' and the everyday suffix '-ing', are among the most familiar pieces of English. The only mild trap is remembering that a single 'd' is correct, since the short vowel might tempt a writer toward a double letter.

How the word is built

• end (Old English ende: limit, boundary, conclusion)
• -ing (noun-forming suffix)