Placing

How to spell placing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce placing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does placing mean?

1. verbPutting or setting something in a particular position or location.
2. nounThe position or rank that someone achieves in a competition or contest.
3. nounThe sale of newly issued shares or securities to selected investors.

Placing in a sentence

• verb

  She spent the morning placing books neatly on the shelves.

• noun

  Her third placing in the marathon earned a small trophy.

• noun

  The company raised capital through a private placing of shares.

• verb

  The caterer was busy placing name cards at every seat.

• noun

  The team celebrated their top placing in the league table.

• noun

  Investors welcomed the bank's placing of new bonds at a fair price.

Where does placing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows from the verb 'place', which English took from the noun 'place' in the late 1300s. The noun itself came through Old French from the Latin platea, meaning a broad street or open courtyard, and that in turn was borrowed from the Greek plateia hodos, literally a 'broad way', built on platys meaning 'flat' or 'wide'. Over time 'place' shifted from naming a physical open space to meaning any particular spot or position, and the verb 'to place' came to mean setting something in a position. The form 'placing' is simply that verb with the '-ing' ending, used both as an ongoing action and as a noun for a position achieved or a deliberate arrangement. The same platys root sits behind 'plateau' and 'platypus' (a 'flat foot'), and the spelling trap here is the silent dropping of the final 'e' from 'place' before '-ing'.

How the word is built

• plac- (from place, from Latin platea: broad street, open space)
• -ing (verb/noun suffix)