Rigging

How to spell rigging

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rigging

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rigging mean?

1. nounThe system of ropes, chains, and tackle that supports a ship's masts and controls its sails; more broadly, supporting gear and lifting equipment.
2. nounThe act of dishonestly arranging or manipulating something so the outcome is predetermined.

Rigging in a sentence

• The storm tore through the ship's rigging and snapped a mast.

• Investigators uncovered clear evidence of vote rigging in the disputed district.

• The crew inspected every rope in the rigging before the long voyage.

• The company faced charges of price rigging across several markets.

Where does rigging come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This word is built on the verb 'rig', which appeared in English around the late 1400s meaning to fit a ship with its masts, sails, and ropes. The origin of 'rig' itself is uncertain, but it is widely thought to come from a Scandinavian source, since related words survive in the Nordic languages, such as Norwegian 'rigga', meaning to bind up or wrap. From that nautical core, 'rigging' came to name the whole system of ropes, chains, and tackle that supports a vessel's masts and works its sails. Over time the verb stretched beyond ships to mean assembling or arranging equipment in general, and later acquired a dishonest sense, 'to fix' or 'to manipulate' an outcome, giving us phrases such as rigging an election. The doubled 'g' is the spelling trap here: because the root 'rig' ends in a single short vowel plus a consonant, the consonant doubles before the suffix.

How the word is built

• rig (to fit out, equip)
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)