Etymology

longing

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Today it means: An earnest and deep, not greatly passionate, but rather melancholic desire. Full definition →

Middle English longynge ← Old English langiende ← Proto-Germanic *langōndz
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longing · verb, adjective1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*langōną“to desire, long for”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*langōndz
  3. Old English · inherited fromlangiende
  4. Middle English · inherited fromlongynge
  5. English todaylonging

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).

longing · noun2

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*langōną“to desire, long for”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*langungō
  3. Old English · inherited fromlongung
  4. Middle English · inherited fromlonginge
  5. English todaylonging

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).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*langōną all →

long

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.