Tapering

How to spell tapering

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce tapering

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tapering mean?

1. adjectiveBecoming gradually narrower or thinner toward one end.
2. nounThe process of gradually reducing something, such as training, a dose, or financial support.

Tapering in a sentence

• adjective

  The tailored trousers had a tapering leg that hugged the ankle.

• noun

  Her coach planned a careful tapering of the workouts in the week before the marathon.

• adjective

  Engineers admired the spire's gently tapering form against the skyline.

• noun

  The doctor advised a slow tapering of the medication rather than stopping it all at once.

Where does tapering come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English noun tapor (also written tapur), which meant a candle or a wick. Scholars believe tapor was an early borrowing from the Latin papyrus, the reed whose pith was used to make wicks, with the initial sound shifting from p to t in English. Because a wax candle naturally narrows toward its tip, the noun gave rise to a verb meaning 'to grow gradually smaller or thinner toward one end', and from there to the wider idea of any gradual reduction. The present participle 'tapering' has been used as an adjective and verbal noun since the 1600s, describing everything from a slender spire to the slow winding down of an activity. The link back to the candle is a handy memory aid: keep the single p of the wax taper rather than doubling it.

How the word is built

• taper (to narrow, from Old English tapor 'candle')
• -ing (present participle / verbal noun)