Performing

How to spell performing

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce performing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does performing mean?

1. verbCarrying out an action, task, or function, or presenting an entertainment before an audience.

Performing in a sentence

• The surgeon was performing a delicate procedure when the power flickered.

• The band spent the summer performing at festivals across the country.

Where does performing come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the present participle of the verb 'perform', which English took from the Anglo-Norman and Old French 'parfournir', meaning 'to carry out' or 'to complete fully'. The first element 'par-' was an intensifier meaning 'thoroughly' or 'completely', while 'fournir' meant 'to furnish, provide, or accomplish'. Over time English speakers reshaped the ending under the influence of the familiar word 'form' (Latin 'forma', meaning shape), which is why we now spell it with -form rather than the older -fourn. The word entered English in the 1300s, at first meaning simply 'to complete or accomplish a task', and only later picked up the theatrical sense of presenting a play, song, or act before an audience. The spelling trap is subtle: the unstressed first syllable sounds like 'puh', tempting writers toward 'preforming', when the correct prefix is per-.

How the word is built

• per- (thoroughly)
• form (root, from Latin forma 'shape, form')
• -ing (present participle/verbal suffix)