ling

¹ American  

[ling] / lɪŋ /

noun

plural

ling,

plural

lings

1. an elongated, marine, gadid food fish, Molva molva, of Greenland and northern Europe.

2. the burbot.

3. any of various other elongated food fishes.

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ling ² American  

[ling] / lɪŋ /

noun

1. the heather, Calluna vulgaris.

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-ling ³ American  

1. a suffix of nouns, often pejorative, denoting one concerned with (hireling; underling ), or diminutive (princeling; duckling ).

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-ling ⁴ American  

1. an adverbial suffix expressing direction, position, state, etc..

   darkling; sideling.

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ling. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. linguistics.

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-ling ¹ British  

suffix

1. derogatory a person or thing belonging to or associated with the group, activity, or quality specified

   nestling

   underling

2. used as a diminutive

   duckling

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ling ² British  

/ lɪŋ /

noun

1. any of several gadoid food fishes of the northern coastal genus Molva, esp M. molva, having an elongated body with long fins

2. another name for burbot

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-ling ³ British  

suffix

1. in a specified condition, manner, or direction

   darkling

   sideling

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ling ⁴ British  

/ lɪŋ /

noun

1. another name for heather

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ling. ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. linguistics

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Usage

What does -ling mean? The suffix -ling has two distinct senses. The first of these senses is to form nouns meaning “one concerned with” and/or "little." This form of -ling is occasionally used in a variety of everyday terms. It is sometimes used to be pejorative or insulting. The suffix -ling comes from Old English, in which it was used to create nouns meaning "one concerned with."The second of these senses is to form adverbs describing direction, position, or state of being. This form of -ling is very rarely used in a variety of obscure terms. The suffix -ling in this sense comes from Old English -ling, in which it was used to indicate direction.

Other Word Forms

• lingy adjective

Etymology

Origin of ling¹

1250–1300; Middle English ling, lenge; cognate with Dutch leng; akin to long ¹, Old Norse langa

Origin of ling²

1325–75; Middle English lyng < Old Norse lyng

Origin of -ling³

Middle English, Old English; cognate with German -ling, Old Norse -lingr, Gothic -lings; -le, -ing ¹

Origin of -ling⁴

Middle English, Old English; adv. use of gradational variant lang long ¹

Example Sentences

It’s also known for ling cod and as a great place to go crabbing without a boat.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 18, 2023

Chef Eric Rivera loves using it to coat “lean and thin fish like petrale sole, or thin sliced fish like a ling cod or halibut,” he said.

From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022

Offshore is good for dolphin, red snapper ling, kingfish and tuna.

From Washington Times • Aug. 23, 2017

They fished for cod and ling from open boats voyaging out into the perilous Atlantic for nights at sea.

From The Guardian • Jun. 28, 2017

I listened to it grow ling but didn’t give in.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson