Forwarding

How to spell forwarding

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce forwarding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does forwarding mean?

1. verbSending a received item, such as a letter or message, on to a further destination.
2. nounRelating to the arrangement by which received items are sent on, as in a forwarding address or forwarding service.

Forwarding in a sentence

• verb

  She spent the morning forwarding customer emails to the right department.

• noun

  He left a forwarding address with the post office before the move.

• verb

  The assistant kept forwarding his post to the new flat after he moved.

• noun

  The company offers a mail forwarding service for clients who travel often.

Where does forwarding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows out of the native English adverb 'forward', which descends from the Old English 'foreweard', meaning 'toward the front' or 'inclined ahead'. That older form combined 'fore', meaning 'before' or 'in front', with the suffix '-weard', a directional ending meaning 'turned in the direction of' that also survives in 'toward', 'backward', and 'homeward'. By the late 1500s 'forward' had been pressed into service as a verb meaning 'to help onward' and then 'to send on to a further destination', the sense that dominates today. Adding the '-ing' ending produces 'forwarding', used both as a present participle and as a noun for the act of sending something on, as in a 'forwarding address'. The spelling trap is the hidden 'war' buried in the middle, since the unstressed second syllable sounds like a vague 'werd' rather than the 'ward' it is actually written with.

How the word is built

• fore- (in front, ahead)
• -ward (in the direction of)
• -ing (verbal/noun suffix)