Proclaiming

How to spell proclaiming

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce proclaiming

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does proclaiming mean?

1. verbAnnouncing or declaring something publicly, officially, or emphatically.

Proclaiming in a sentence

• The banner across the entrance was proclaiming the grand reopening of the store.

• He stood at the podium proclaiming the results of the long election.

Where does proclaiming come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb proclamare, which combined the prefix pro-, meaning 'forth' or 'publicly', with clamare, meaning 'to cry out' or 'to shout'. The literal sense was therefore 'to cry out before a crowd', the action of a herald announcing news in a public square. English took it in through Old French proclamer in the late 1300s, keeping the idea of a loud, formal, official announcement. The same clamare root still echoes in relatives such as 'exclaim', 'acclaim', and 'clamour', which all involve raised voices. A useful spelling cue is that English kept the -ai- vowel from the French claim rather than the Latin -a-, so 'proclaiming' is built on the familiar English word 'claim' with pro- in front and -ing on the end.

How the word is built

• pro- (forth, publicly)
• claim (from Latin clamare, to cry out)
• -ing (present participle suffix)