belonging
adjective
- appertaining, accompanying, concomitant
noun
- being owned
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɪˈlɒŋɪŋ/ / /bɪˈlɔŋɪŋ/ / /bɪˈlɑŋɪŋ/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Old English be- Middle English be- Proto-Germanic *langōną Proto-West Germanic *langōn Old English langian Middle English longen Middle English belongen English belong Proto-Germanic *-ungō Old English -ung Middle English -ynge English -ing English belonging From belong + -ing.
- The feeling that one belongs.
“I have a feeling of belonging in London.”
“A need for belonging seems fundamental to humans.”
- Something physical that is owned.
“Make sure you take all your belongings when you leave.”
“[…] Thyself and thy belongings Are not thine own so proper as to waste Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.”
- Family; relations; household.
“When Lady Kew said Sic volo, sic jubeo [Thus I will, thus I command], I promise you few persons of her ladyship’s belongings stopped, before they did her biddings, to ask her reasons.”
“As soon as the principal personages were seated, the verandah of the house was filled silently by the muffled-up forms of Lakamba’s female belongings.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English belonginge, belanging, belangand, equivalent to belong + -ing.
- present participle and gerund of belong