Where does “killing” come from?

Killing derives from English kill, from Dutch kil, from Middle Dutch kille, from Latin colligo meaning "to gather together," ultimately from Latin ligo meaning "to bind."

killing (English): present participle of kill; That literally...

Definitions

  1. present participle of kill; That literally...

Ancestry of “killing”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishkyllyngThe action of killing somebody, slaying
2Middle English-yngeAlternative form of -ing
3Old English-ungforming nouns from verbs, denoting verbal action...
4Proto-Germanic-ungō-ing, -ion. "Forms gerund nouns from verbs."

Words derived from “killing”

Every word from Proto-Germanic -ungō →Every word from Old English -ung →Every word from Middle English -ynge →