Pairing

How to spell pairing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pairing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pairing mean?

1. nounThe act of putting two things or people together as a matched set, or the resulting combination.

Pairing in a sentence

• The sommelier suggested a pairing of the salmon with a crisp white wine.

• The app guides you through pairing the headphones with your phone.

Where does pairing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows from 'pair', which English took in the 1200s from Old French 'paire', itself from the Latin 'paria', the neuter plural of 'par' meaning 'equal' or 'a match'. The original idea was simply two things of the same kind set together, and that sense of equality still lingers in relatives such as 'parity' and 'compare'. By adding the native English suffix '-ing', writers formed a noun and gerund describing the act of joining two things or the resulting matched set. The doubled vowel spelling 'pai-' is exactly what separates it from 'paring', the act of cutting away a thin layer, which comes from a completely different root, the verb 'pare'. Keeping that 'i' in place is the whole spelling trap, because the two words sound identical.

How the word is built

• pair (two of a kind, from Latin par 'equal')
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)