Meanings
calling1
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of call
calling2
plural callings
- A job or occupation.
1 more example
Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe particular occupation for which you are trained
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
calling · verb
- Old Norsekallandi
- Old English*cealliende
- Middle Englishcallyng
- Englishcalling
Inherited from Middle English callyng, kallyng, kalland, from Old English *cealliende and Old Norse kallandi, equivalent to call + -ing.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →calling · noun
- Middle Englishcalling
- Englishcalling
From Middle English calling, callynge, equivalent to call + -ing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κλῆσις, ἐπιτήδευμα
- κλῆσις (klêsis)strong urge (to become or do something)
- ἐπιτήδευμα (epitḗdeuma)occupation
Bulgarian влече́ние, професия
- влече́ние (vlečénie)strong urge (to become or do something)
- професия (profesija)occupation
- призва́ние (prizvánie)occupation
Chinese Cantonese 呼召
- 呼召 (fu¹ ziu⁶)strong urge (to become or do something)
Chinese Mandarin 呼召, 職業 /职业
- 呼召 (hūzhào)strong urge (to become or do something)
- 職業 /职业 (zhíyè)occupation
Czech povolání
- povoláníoccupation
Esperanto alvokiĝo, alvoko
- alvokiĝostrong urge (to become or do something)
- alvokooccupation
Finnish kutsumus, ammatti
- kutsumusstrong urge (to become or do something)
- ammattioccupation
Hungarian hivatás
- hivatásoccupation
Irish gairm bheatha
- gairm bheathaoccupation
Italian vocazione, chiamata
- vocazionestrong urge (to become or do something)
- chiamatastrong urge (to become or do something)
Japanese 天命, 天命
- 天命 (tenmē)strong urge (to become or do something)
- 天命 (tenmē)occupation
Polish powołanie, powołanie
- powołaniestrong urge (to become or do something)
- powołanieoccupation
Scottish Gaelic gairmeach, gairm
- gairmeachstrong urge (to become or do something)
- gairmoccupation
Spanish vocación, llamado
- vocaciónstrong urge (to become or do something)
- llamadostrong urge (to become or do something)
- llamamientostrong urge (to become or do something)
- pegarle aoccupation
Swahili wito
- witostrong urge (to become or do something)
Swedish kall, kall
- kallstrong urge (to become or do something)
- kalloccupation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with calling
All rhymes →Cite this entry
calling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calling
“calling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calling. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “calling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calling.
Source: calling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.