Etymology

belonging

be·long·ing
B3E1L1O1N1G2I1N1G2

Today it means: The feeling that one belongs. Full definition →

English belong ← Middle English belongen ← Old English langian
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

belonging · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbe-
  10. Proto-Germanic*langōną
  11. Proto-West Germanic*langōn
  12. Old Englishlangian
  13. Middle Englishlongen
  14. Middle Englishbelongen
  15. Englishbelong
  16. English todaybelonging

From belong + -ing.

belonging · verb2

  1. Middle English · inherited frombelonginge
  2. English todaybelonging

From Middle English belonginge, belanging, belangand, equivalent to belong + -ing.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.