Removing

How to spell removing

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce removing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does removing mean?

1. verbTaking something away from its place or position, or getting rid of it.

Removing in a sentence

• The workers spent the morning removing the old carpet from the office.

• She was careful when removing the splinter from her finger.

Where does removing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb 'remove', which English took from the Old French 'remouvoir' in the 1300s. That French verb descended directly from the Latin 'removere', a compound of the prefix 're-' (meaning 'back' or 'away') and the verb 'movere' (meaning 'to move'); so the literal sense was 'to move away'. The same 'movere' root sits inside a whole family of familiar English words such as 'motion', 'motor', 'mobile' and 'promote', which all share that idea of movement. The chief spelling trap here is the silent 'e' of 'remove': when '-ing' is added the 'e' is dropped, giving 'removing' rather than the tempting but wrong 'removeing'. Remembering that English drops a final silent 'e' before a vowel suffix is the key to spelling it confidently.

How the word is built

• re- (back, away)
• mov (from Latin movere: to move)
• -ing (present participle suffix)