Rising

How to spell rising

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rising

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rising mean?

1. adjectiveMoving upward, growing, or becoming greater in level or amount.
2. nounAn organised revolt or rebellion against an authority or government.

Rising in a sentence

• adjective

  Rising fuel costs forced the company to review its budget.

• noun

  The textbook described an armed rising that toppled the old regime.

• adjective

  The rising tide covered the beach by mid-afternoon.

• noun

  Historians still debate what triggered the peasant rising of that year.

Where does rising come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows directly from the verb 'rise', which descends from the Old English 'risan', meaning 'to get up, to ascend, or to spring forth'. That root belongs to a wider Germanic family, with relatives in Old Norse 'risa' and Old High German 'risan', all carrying the sense of upward movement. The '-ing' ending is the native English suffix used to form both the present participle and verbal nouns, so 'rising' has long served as an adjective ('rising prices'), a participle ('the sun rising'), and a noun ('an armed rising'). The spelling keeps a single 's' and drops the silent 'e' of 'rise' before adding the ending, which is the only mild trap here. From around the fourteenth century 'rising' was also used to mean a rebellion, picturing people literally getting up against authority.

How the word is built

• ris- (from rise: to go up)
• -ing (present participle / verbal noun suffix)