Showing results for "belonging"

• present participle of belong.

belonging

American  

[bih-lawng-ing, -long-] / bɪˈlɔŋ ɪŋ, -ˈlɒŋ- /

noun

• belongings
  plural

1. 

   something that belongs.

2. belongings, possessions; goods; personal effects.

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belonging British  

/ bɪˈlɒŋɪŋ /

noun

1. secure relationship; affinity (esp in the phrase a sense of belonging )

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unbelonging
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• belongings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of belonging

First recorded in 1595–1605; belong + -ing ¹

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Explanation

Belonging is a sense of fitting in or feeling like you are an important member of a group. A really close family gives each of its members a strong sense of belonging. When you belong, you are an official part of a group ("She belongs to the French club") or you're compatible with certain people or suited to a specific place ("I just belong in nature"). A feeling of belonging describes this sense of truly fitting or meshing, especially with friends, family members, or other sympathetic folks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

belonging belongings

At the heart of the legal argument is an attribution study published in a journal belonging to the Nature group, which estimates that climate change intensified the extreme rainfall in 2024 by 12 percent.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Regional tensions remained elevated after Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said a building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Dhahran was targeted Tuesday evening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Most of these finds were identified as belonging to known species named from neighboring South Africa.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

They added: "The Judge found that our client received no property belonging to Yugraneft, and that no Yugraneft asset could be traced into his hands."

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Interspersed with plundered foil bags that once contained frozen seeds, personal belonging bags hang from metal brackets like a file cabinet.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

She said she packed up her belongings and moved back in with her parents in Jiangxi province in southeastern China, and now spends her days catching up on sleep and eating with relatives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

To find customers for those belongings, check out Facebook Marketplace and your area’s Nextdoor community.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Security footage allegedly shows a man believed to be the suspect entering the hotel with the woman and leaving alone with her belongings.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

She returned when Ross was not home to gather her belongings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The roads out of the city were filled with people walking with their hastily packed belongings.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

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