longing
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English longynge, langynge, langand, from Old English langiende, from Proto-Germanic *langōndz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), equivalent to long + -ing (present participle ending).
Verb
longing
- present participle and gerund of long
Etymology 2
From Middle English longinge, langynge, from Old English longung, langung (“longing, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *langungō, gerund of Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), equivalent to long + -ing (gerund ending).
Noun
longing (plural longings)
- An earnest and deep, not greatly passionate, but rather melancholic desire.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 132, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
- all natural lovings and longings
- 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 2:
- For round the valley a great desert lies through which no common traveller may come, but those whom the gods have chosen feel suddenly a great longing at heart, and crossing the mountains that divide the desert from the world, set out across it driven by the gods, […]
- The buying of a financial instrument with the expectation that its value will rise
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
melancholic desire
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See also
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