Staying
verbContinuing to remain in a place, state, or condition rather than leaving or changing.
How to spell staying
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce staying
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does staying mean?
- verbContinuing to remain in a place, state, or condition rather than leaving or changing.
Staying in a sentence
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They were staying at a small hotel near the station.
-
She is staying late at the office to finish the report.
Where does staying come from?
Language of origin: French
The base verb 'stay' came into English in the late 1400s from the Old French verb 'estai-', a stem of 'ester', meaning 'to stand still' or 'to remain in place'. That French word descended in turn from the Latin 'stare', which literally meant 'to stand', the same root that gives English 'stable', 'station', and 'status'. The original idea of physically standing fast gradually softened into the broader sense of lingering, dwelling, or continuing somewhere. The '-ing' ending is the native English suffix that turns a verb into its present participle and gerund, used here to describe the ongoing act of remaining. Because the verb ends in a vowel sound, the spelling simply keeps the silent final 'y' and adds '-ing', which is why people occasionally wonder whether a letter should be dropped or doubled.
How the word is built
- stay (to remain)
- -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)
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