Grounding

How to spell grounding

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce grounding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does grounding mean?

1. nounBasic training or knowledge that forms a solid foundation in a subject or skill.
2. nounThe connection of an electrical system to the earth as a safety measure.
3. nounThe informal punishment of confining a young person to the home.

Grounding in a sentence

• The apprenticeship gave her a thorough grounding in plumbing and wiring.

• The electrician checked the grounding on every outlet before signing off.

• A week of grounding followed the missed curfew.

• A solid grounding in arithmetic helps with managing a household budget.

• Poor grounding in the old fuse box caused the appliance to give a shock.

• The grounding meant no friends over and no phone for the weekend.

Where does grounding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows directly out of the Old English noun grund, which meant the bottom of something, the lowest part, or the solid surface of the earth; it belongs to the same Germanic family as the modern Dutch grond and German Grund. The literal idea of a firm floor or foundation gave English the verb 'to ground', meaning to set firmly on a base, and from that verb the gerund 'grounding' was formed with the ordinary -ing ending. Over time the sense branched in several useful directions: a thorough 'grounding' in a subject borrows the metaphor of building on solid foundations, while electrical 'grounding' keeps the older, literal link to the earth itself. The informal sense of confining a young person at home echoes the aviation idea of keeping an aircraft on the ground. Because the root is the everyday word ground, the spelling holds no surprises beyond remembering the single -ing.

How the word is built

• ground (from Old English grund: bottom, foundation)
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)