Regaining

How to spell regaining

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce regaining

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does regaining mean?

1. verbIn the process of getting back something previously lost, such as strength, ground, or control.

Regaining in a sentence

• After months of physiotherapy she is slowly regaining full movement in her shoulder.

• The company is finally regaining the market share it lost during the recession.

Where does regaining come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the present participle of the verb regain, which English assembled from the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', and the verb gain. Gain itself arrived from Old French in the 1400s, where the verb gaaignier originally meant to till the soil and so to profit from one's labour, and the noun gaaigne meant earnings or booty; behind the French sits a Germanic root tied to hunting and foraging for food. By the 1500s English speakers were combining re- with gain to express the idea of getting something back that had been lost, such as territory, health, or composure. The spelling preserves the silent pattern of 'gain', and the only real trap is remembering to keep the single n before adding -ing rather than doubling it. The same gain root survives in 'bargain', which travelled into English along a related French path.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• gain (from Old French gaaignier: to earn, win)
• -ing (present participle / gerund)