Typing

How to spell typing

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce typing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does typing mean?

1. verbProducing text by pressing the keys of a keyboard or typewriter.

Typing in a sentence

• She spent the whole afternoon typing up the meeting notes.

• A sore wrist made typing for long stretches uncomfortable.

Where does typing come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word grows out of the noun and verb 'type', which English took from the Latin typus, itself borrowed from the Greek typos, meaning 'an impression, mark, or figure stamped into a surface'. The Greek root traces back to typtein, 'to strike or beat', which is fitting because letters were once literally struck onto paper. When the typewriter arrived in the nineteenth century, 'type' became the verb for striking those keys, and 'typing' formed as its ordinary present participle and gerund. The spelling follows the standard English rule of dropping the silent 'e' from 'type' before adding '-ing', which is exactly the small trap here: it is 'typing', never 'typeing'. The same typos root quietly underlies a whole family of words including 'prototype', 'stereotype', and 'typical'.

How the word is built

• typ- (from type: impression, character)
• -ing (verbal/gerund suffix)