Shouting

How to spell shouting

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce shouting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does shouting mean?

1. verbCalling out or speaking very loudly, often in anger or to be heard at a distance.
2. nounThe act or sound of loud, raised voices.

Shouting in a sentence

• verb

  The neighbours kept shouting at each other late into the night.

• noun

  The shouting from the crowd drowned out the announcement.

• verb

  She was shouting across the car park to catch his attention.

• noun

  All the shouting gave her a headache by the end of the meeting.

Where does shouting come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word shout first appears in Middle English around the year 1300, written as schouten, meaning to call out with a loud voice. Its ultimate origin is genuinely uncertain, but many scholars link it to Old Norse skuta or skute, a verb meaning to taunt or to scold, which fits the idea of raised, aggressive speech. There may also be a connection to the same root that gives us shoot, picturing the voice as something propelled forcefully outward. The spelling kept the Middle English ou cluster that signalled a long vowel sound, the same pattern seen in out, loud, and about. Adding the ordinary -ing ending turns the action into its continuous and noun forms without altering that ou core, so the only spelling point to watch is the single t before -ing.

How the word is built

• shout (to cry out loudly)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)