ling

¹

[ ling ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) ling, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) 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.

-ling

²

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

ling

³

[ ling ]

noun

1. the heather, Calluna vulgaris.

-ling

⁴

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

   darkling; sideling.

ling.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. linguistics.

ling.

¹

abbreviation for

1. linguistics

ling

²

/ lɪŋ /

noun

1. See heather
   another name for heather

-ling

³

suffix forming adverbs

1. in a specified condition, manner, or direction

   darkling

   sideling

ling

⁴

/ 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. See burbot
   another name for burbot

-ling

⁵

suffix forming nouns

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

Derived Forms

• ˈlingy, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ling¹

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

Origin of ling²

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

Origin of ling³

1325–75; Middle English lyng < Old Norse lyng

Origin of ling⁴

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ling¹

C14: from Old Norse lyng

Origin of ling²

Old English -ling, adverbial suffix

Origin of ling³

C13: probably from Low German; related to long ¹

Origin of ling⁴

Old English -ling, of Germanic origin; related to Icelandic -lingr, Gothic -lings

Example Sentences

But the best luxury hotel, he says, is a completely Bhutanese venture: Zhiwa Ling in Paro.

From The Daily Beast

Of Zamora, the children have always asked questions, which Winick and Ling try and answer as openly as possible.

From The Daily Beast

Winick and Ling still miss Zamora with a “sharp pang of grief.”

From The Daily Beast

Last week, the Hong Kong–based South China Morning Post revealed the driver was the son of senior official Ling Jihua.

From The Daily Beast

Police refused to name the driver—later reported to be Ling Gu, 23, the son of an influential ally of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

From The Daily Beast

It is recorded by one writer that Chang Kiu-ling, when a youth, trained pigeons to carry letters to his friends.

From Project Gutenberg

He hit Ling on the lower end of the breastbone, where his belly would be softest.

From Project Gutenberg

The plain was well-grassed, as high as Ling's knuckled knee.

From Project Gutenberg

I'm falling into the beast-man class, closer to Ling's type.

From Project Gutenberg

Ling grimaced, but followed lest his companions think him afraid.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use -ling

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.

Examples of -ling with the sense “one concerned with” or "little"

One example of a word that features –ling in the sense of “little” is princeling, “a young prince.”

The prince– part of the word means, naturally, “prince,” a non-reigning male member of a royal family. As we have seen, –ling means “little.” Princeling literally means “little prince.”

What are some words that use the equivalent of the suffix –ling in Middle or Old English?

• darling
• gosling
• hireling
• starling
• suckling

What are some other forms that –ling may be commonly confused with?

• -ing
• -like
• -logy

Not every word that ends with the exact letters –ling, such as buckling or quisling, is necessarily using the suffix –ling to denote “one concerned with” or “little.” Learn why quisling means “traitor” at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

The offspring of a goose is known as a gosling. Given the meaning of –ling, what does gosling literally mean?

Examples of -ling with the sense “direction” or "state of being"

A word that uses the suffix –ling to indicate a state of being is darkling, an adverb meaning “in the dark.” Darkling comes from late Middle English derkeling, which features the equivalent of –ling in that language.

The dark– part of the word here literally means “having very little or no light.” The suffix –ling in this term indicates a state of being. Darkling literally means “the state of having very little or no light.”

What are some words that use the suffix –ling?

• flatling (using the equivalent form of –ling in Middle English)
• groundling
• groveling
• sideling (using the equivalent form of –ling in Middle English)

What are some other forms that -ling may be commonly confused with?

• -ing
• -like
• -logy

Break it down!

Given the meaning of –ling to indicate a sense of direction, what does sideling mean?