gerund
[jer-uh nd]
noun Grammar.
(in certain languages, as Latin) a form regularly derived from a verb and functioning as a noun, having in Latin all case forms but the nominative, as Latin dicendī gen., dicendō, dat., abl., etc., “saying.”See also gerundive(def 1).
the English -ing form of a verb when functioning as a noun, as writing in Writing is easy.
a form similar to the Latin gerund in meaning or function.
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RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- gershom,
- gershwin,
- gershwin, george,
- gert,
- gertrude,
- gerundive,
- gervais,
- geryon,
- gerzean,
- gesamtkunstwerk
Origin of gerund
1505–15; < Late Latin gerundium, Latin gerundum that which is to be carried on, equivalent to ger(ere) to bear, carry on + -undum, variant of -endum, gerund suffix
Usage note
See me.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gerund
gerund
noun
Word Origin for gerund
C16: from Late Latin gerundium, from Latin gerundum something to be carried on, from gerere to wage
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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gerund
1510s, from Late Latin gerundium, from Old Latin gerundum "to be carried out," gerundive of gerere "to bear, carry" (see gest). In Latin, a verbal noun used for all cases of the infinitive but the nominative; applied in English to verbal nouns in -ing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
gerund
[(jer-uhnd)]
A form of a verb that ends in -ing and operates as a noun in a sentence: “Thinking can be painful.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.