Slowing

How to spell slowing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce slowing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does slowing mean?

1. verbBecoming or making something less fast; reducing speed or pace.

Slowing in a sentence

• The train was slowing as it neared the platform.

• Analysts warned that the housing market was slowing after years of rapid growth.

Where does slowing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'slow', which traces back to the Old English adjective 'slaw', meaning sluggish, dull, or lacking in speed. In its earliest use the word leaned toward mental dullness as much as physical slowness, so a 'slaw' person was simply slow-witted, and only later did the idea of low speed come to dominate. The verb sense, 'to make or become slow', grew naturally out of the adjective and was well established by the time the participle 'slowing' came into ordinary use. The spelling kept the silent 'w' that English inherited from the Germanic form, the same ending seen in relatives like 'mow' and 'blow'. Adding the regular '-ing' suffix gives the modern form, where the trap, if any, is simply remembering to keep the 'w' before the ending rather than writing 'sloing'.

How the word is built

• slow (root, from Old English slaw 'sluggish')
• -ing (present participle / verbal noun suffix)