Styling

How to spell styling

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce styling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does styling mean?

1. nounThe way in which something is designed, arranged, or made to look.
2. nounThe act of arranging or shaping hair, often using products or tools.

Styling in a sentence

• The styling of the new car borrows heavily from classic sports models.

• The salon charges extra for cutting and styling.

• Customers praised the clean styling of the website's homepage.

• This lightweight gel gives all-day hold without styling becoming stiff.

Where does styling come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows from 'style', which English took from the Old French 'stile' in the medieval period, itself descended from the Latin 'stilus', the name for the pointed metal tool the Romans used to scratch letters into wax tablets. Because the way a person handled that stilus produced a recognisable hand, the word drifted from the physical instrument to the broader idea of a manner of writing, and then to a manner of doing anything at all. The '-ing' ending, a native English suffix, turns the verb 'to style' into the act or result of arranging something's appearance, whether that be hair, clothing, or product design. A quiet spelling curiosity is that the 'y' in style reflects a later confusion with the unrelated Greek 'stylos' meaning 'pillar', which nudged the medieval Latin spelling from 'stilus' toward 'stylus'. That borrowed 'y' is exactly the letter writers second-guess, since the word sounds as though it could begin with a plain 'i'.

How the word is built

• style (from Latin stilus: a writing tool, later a manner of expression)
• -ing (forming a noun or present participle)