Generating

How to spell generating

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce generating

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does generating mean?

1. verbProducing or bringing something into existence, such as power, income, or results.

Generating in a sentence

• The wind farm is generating enough power for the whole town.

• The new product line is generating steady income for the business.

Where does generating come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb generare, meaning 'to beget, produce, or bring into being', which was built on the noun genus, meaning 'birth, race, or kind'. That same genus root branches out into a wide family of English words, including 'genus', 'genre', 'genuine', 'gene', and even 'general'. The verb 'generate' entered English in the early 1500s in the sense of producing offspring, and over time it broadened to mean producing anything at all, from electricity to enthusiasm. The form 'generating' is simply the present participle, made by adding the regular '-ing' ending. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: writers must remember the single 'n' and the soft 'g' before 'e', along with dropping the silent 'e' of 'generate' before '-ing'.

How the word is built

• gener- (from genus/generare: to beget, produce)
• -ate (verb)
• -ing (present participle suffix)