Thanking

How to spell thanking

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce thanking

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does thanking mean?

1. verbExpressing gratitude to someone for something they have done or given.

Thanking in a sentence

• She spent the morning thanking everyone who had helped at the event.

• He kept thanking the volunteers for their patience during the long day.

Where does thanking come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'thank', which comes from the Old English 'thancian', meaning 'to give thanks' or 'to express gratitude'. That verb grew from the noun 'thanc', which originally meant 'thought' or 'good will', so to thank someone was once to hold them in kindly thought. The link between thinking and thanking survives in close German relatives, where 'danken' (to thank) sits beside 'denken' (to think). The '-ing' ending is the ordinary native English participle suffix used to form continuous and gerund forms, and because the root ends in a single 'k' after a short vowel that needs no doubling, the spelling stays simply 'thank' plus 'ing'.

How the word is built

• thank (to express gratitude)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)