Meanings
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of rot
plural rottings
- The process by which something rots.
[…] the mould on the boles of the other [trees], that lyes commonly there, and is made of the annual rottings of their own leaves.
1686, Robert Plot, The Natural History of Staffordshire, page 214 - Material that has rotted.
From the compost rinds and rottings, from the garbage peels, from the shadows' darkness, darkness, this guttered meal and all its redolence.
c. 2009, Janice N. Harrington, Possum
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishrotung
- Middle Englishrotynge“rotting”
- Englishrotting
From Middle English rotynge (“rotting”), from Old English rotung; equivalent to rot + -ing. Conflated with Middle English rotende, present participle of roten (“to rot”), from Old English rotiende, present participle of rotian (“to rot”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto putranta
- putranta(adjective)
Spanish cedizo, cedicio
- cedizo(adjective)
- cedicio(adjective)
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
rotting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rotting
“rotting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rotting. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rotting,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rotting.
Source: rotting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.