Modeling

How to spell modeling

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce modeling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does modeling mean?

1. nounThe occupation of posing to display clothing, products, or appearance for photographs, runways, or advertising.
2. nounThe process of creating a physical, mathematical, or digital representation of an object, system, or situation.

Modeling in a sentence

• She began modeling for a local clothing brand at eighteen.

• The engineers used computer modeling to predict how the bridge would bear its load.

• A career in modeling took her to runways in Paris and Milan.

• Climate modeling helps researchers forecast future temperatures.

Where does modeling come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The base word model came into English in the late 1500s from the French modèle, which was itself borrowed from the Italian modello. That Italian form descends from the Latin modulus, a diminutive of modus meaning 'a measure' or 'a manner', so a model was literally 'a little measure', a small standard or pattern from which larger things could be copied. From that idea of a pattern or template, model branched out to mean an artist's three-dimensional study, an exemplary person worth imitating, and eventually the person who poses to display clothing. The activity noun modeling simply adds the native English suffix -ing. In American spelling the single L is kept because the stress falls on the first syllable, not the last, which is precisely the point that trips writers used to the doubled British modelling.

How the word is built

• model (from Latin modulus: a small measure)
• -ing (suffix forming a noun of activity or the present participle)

British and American spelling

Modeling is the American spelling. British English spells it modelling.