Worshipping

How to spell worshipping

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce worshipping

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does worshipping mean?

1. verbShowing reverence and devotion to a deity, or admiring someone or something greatly.

Worshipping in a sentence

• The congregation was worshipping quietly when the storm began.

• Fans stood worshipping their idol from the front row of the concert.

Where does worshipping come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word traces back to the Old English noun weorthscipe, which literally meant 'the condition of being worthy' or 'honour'. It was formed from weorth, meaning 'worth' or 'value', joined to the suffix -scipe, the ancestor of the modern '-ship' you see in words like 'friendship' and 'hardship', which denoted a state or condition. Over time the noun came to mean the reverence shown to a deity, and by the 1200s it was being used as a verb meaning 'to honour with religious rites'. The verb then took regular inflections, and when the suffix -ing was attached the final consonant was doubled to give 'worshipping' in British and Canadian usage; American writers often prefer the single-p 'worshiping'. The lingering trace of 'worth' inside the spelling is a useful reminder that to worship someone is, at root, to declare them worthy.

How the word is built

• worship (from Old English weorthscipe: worthiness, honour)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix); note the doubled p added before -ing

British and American spelling

Worshipping is the British spelling. American English spells it worshiping.