Increasing

How to spell increasing

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce increasing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does increasing mean?

1. adjectiveBecoming greater in size, amount, degree, or intensity.
2. verbThe present participle of increase: in the process of growing or becoming larger.

Increasing in a sentence

• adjective

  The report noted an increasing demand for remote work.

• verb

  The company is increasing its prices next quarter.

• adjective

  Farmers worried about the increasing cost of fertiliser.

• verb

  Traffic noise kept increasing throughout the morning.

Where does increasing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb increscere, meaning 'to grow upon' or 'to grow larger', formed from the prefix in- 'into, upon' and crescere 'to grow'. English took the base verb from Old French encreistre and encreis- during the 1300s, and the spelling was later reshaped to align more closely with its Latin source. The -ing form is the native English participle ending attached to the verb 'increase'. The same crescere root, meaning 'to grow', survives in a surprising family of relatives, including 'crescent' (the growing moon), 'crescendo', and even 'recruit', all sharing that idea of swelling or growth. For spelling, the key trap is the quiet -eas- in the middle and the single -s-: it follows the same pattern as the noun 'increase', so remembering the base word keeps the spelling steady.

How the word is built

• in- (in, toward)
• creas (from Latin crescere: to grow)
• -ing (present participle / adjectival suffix)