Issuing

How to spell issuing

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce issuing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does issuing mean?

1. verbOfficially sending out, distributing, or putting into circulation something such as documents, statements, or supplies.
2. verbFlowing, coming, or emerging out from a source or opening.

Issuing in a sentence

• The bank is issuing new cards to every customer this month.

• Smoke was issuing from the cracked exhaust pipe.

• The council kept issuing parking fines without warning the residents.

• Water kept issuing from the burst joint under the sink.

Where does issuing come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the present participle of the verb 'issue', which travelled into English through Old French. The Old French noun 'issue' meant an exit, an outlet, or the act of going out, and it came in turn from the Latin verb 'exire', meaning 'to go out', formed from 'ex' (out) plus 'ire' (to go). English borrowed the word in the 1300s, at first for the idea of something flowing or going forth, such as water from a spring or descendants from a family line. From that 'going out' sense it developed the modern meanings of formally sending out documents, money, or statements, and of a point in dispute that 'comes out' for debate. The spelling keeps the double 's' from the French and Latin forms, and the tricky '-uing' ending is simply the silent-feeling 'ue' of 'issue' meeting the '-ing' suffix, which is exactly where writers slip and add or drop a letter.

How the word is built

• issu- (to go out, send out)
• -ing (present participle suffix)