Saying

How to spell saying

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce saying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does saying mean?

1. nounA short, well-known expression that states a general truth or piece of advice.
2. verbThe present participle of 'say', describing the act of uttering words.

Saying in a sentence

• noun

  The old saying about early birds catching worms came to mind.

• verb

  He kept saying that the report was almost finished.

• noun

  Her grandmother had a saying for every difficult situation.

• verb

  She was saying goodbye to her colleagues as the lift doors closed.

Where does saying come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the native English verb 'say', which descends from the Old English secgan, meaning 'to speak' or 'to utter'. That verb traces back to a Germanic root shared with the Dutch zeggen and the German sagen, all carrying the basic idea of putting thought into spoken words. The ending '-ing' is an old and productive English suffix that turns a verb into either a present participle or a noun naming the action or its result. By the medieval period 'saying' had hardened into a noun for a fixed, often-repeated expression, the kind of pithy wisdom a community passes around. The spelling stays pleasantly regular here: the verb 'say' keeps its 'y' and simply adds '-ing', so there is no silent letter or doubling to trip over.

How the word is built

• say (root, from Old English secgan 'to utter')
• -ing (suffix forming a noun or present participle)