Managing

How to spell managing

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce managing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does managing mean?

1. verbDirecting, controlling, or coping with something or someone.
2. adjectiveHolding overall executive control, as in a senior business role.

Managing in a sentence

• verb

  She is managing three different teams this quarter.

• adjective

  The managing director approved the new budget this morning.

• verb

  He has trouble managing his time around so many meetings.

• adjective

  She was appointed managing partner of the law firm.

Where does managing come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This is the present participle of the verb 'manage', which English took in the 1500s from the Italian maneggiare, meaning 'to handle' and especially 'to handle or train a horse'. That verb grew from the Latin manus, meaning simply 'hand', so the earliest sense was very physical: to control something with your hands. The horse-training idea even survives in the related word 'manege', the ring where horses are schooled. The meaning broadened from steering animals to steering affairs, money, and people, giving us the modern idea of running a business or coping with a situation. Because the root is manus and not anything ending in a double letter, 'manage' keeps a single soft g, and when you add -ing you simply drop the silent final e, which is the small step that trips writers who want to insert an extra letter.

How the word is built

• manage (to handle or direct)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)