Entering

How to spell entering

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce entering

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does entering mean?

1. verbComing or going into a place, or beginning to take part in or record something.

Entering in a sentence

• The guard checked every visitor entering the building.

• She spent the afternoon entering the figures into the spreadsheet.

Where does entering come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb 'enter', which English took from the Old French 'entrer', meaning 'to go in' or 'to come in'. That French verb descended directly from the Latin 'intrare', built on the preposition 'intra', meaning 'within' or 'inside', so the literal idea was always 'to move into an interior'. English adopted 'enter' in the 1200s, and over time it widened from physically going indoors to abstract uses such as entering a contest, entering data, or entering into an agreement. The same 'intra' root survives in everyday words like 'interior' and 'intranet', which keeps the 'inside' sense visible. The spelling is straightforward once you remember it simply adds '-ing' to 'enter', keeping the single 't' and single 'r' rather than doubling them.

How the word is built

• enter (from Latin intrare: to go in)
• -ing (present participle suffix)