Listing

How to spell listing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce listing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does listing mean?

1. nounAn item or entry recorded in a published list, catalogue, or directory.
2. verbLeaning over to one side, used of a ship or boat tilting because of uneven weight or water.

Listing in a sentence

• noun

  The estate agent posted a new property listing this morning.

• verb

  The damaged ferry was listing heavily to starboard.

• noun

  Each job listing on the site shows the salary and location.

• verb

  With the cargo loaded unevenly, the vessel kept listing to port.

Where does listing come from?

Language of origin: French

The base word list, in the sense of a catalogue or roll of names, came into English in the 1600s from French liste, which was itself borrowed from Italian lista, meaning a strip, band, or border. Behind those Romance forms lies an old Germanic root meaning the edge or selvage of a piece of cloth; because such a strip was narrow and ran in a line, the idea drifted from a literal margin to a column of written entries set out one after another. English already had a native cousin of this root, since the Old English liste also meant a border or hem, which is why the modern noun feels so at home in the language. The verb to list, meaning to record items in order, grew directly out of the noun, and adding the ordinary suffix -ing produced listing for both the act of recording and a single recorded entry. The spelling is mercifully regular: one s, one t, and a plain -ing, with no silent letters to trip over.

How the word is built

• list (a series of written items)
• -ing (noun/verb suffix)