Winding

How to spell winding

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce winding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does winding mean?

1. adjectiveFollowing a curving, twisting course rather than a straight line.
2. nounA length of wire wound into a coil, as found inside a motor or transformer.

Winding in a sentence

• adjective

  The winding country lane took twice as long to drive than the motorway.

• noun

  A fault in the motor's winding caused the pump to overheat.

• adjective

  A long, winding queue stretched from the ticket office around the block.

• noun

  The electrician tested each winding for a break in the copper.

Where does winding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English verb windan, which meant 'to turn, twist, or wind something around', and which is the same source as the modern verb 'wind' when you wind a clock or wind thread onto a spool. That verb belonged to a wider Germanic family, with close cousins such as Dutch winden and German winden, all carrying the core idea of curving or coiling motion. The form 'winding' is the present participle, used both as an adjective for something that twists along a curving course and as a noun for a coil of wire wrapped around itself, as in an electric motor. It is worth keeping the twisting verb 'wind' (rhyming with 'find') quite separate from the moving-air noun 'wind' (rhyming with 'pinned'), even though they share the same spelling: the spelling of 'winding' looks identical in both cases, which is exactly why the pronunciation rather than the letters tells you which meaning is intended. The single 'd' and the plain 'ing' ending make this an easy spelling once you remember it is simply 'wind' plus '-ing'.

How the word is built

• wind (Old English windan: to twist or turn)
• -ing (adjective/noun-forming suffix)