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Vinony

calling

noun

  1. act of labelling
  2. summon, perhaps to or by phone
  3. the act of saying across a distance
L30349 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈkɔːlɪŋ/ / [kʰolɪŋ] / /kaːlɪn/

noun

Etymology: From Middle English calling, callynge, equivalent to call + -ing.

  1. A strong urge (to do some particular thing with or in one's life, for example to become religious, to help the poor, or to be an entertainer).
  2. A job or occupation.

    “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.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English callyng, kallyng, kalland, from Old English *cealliende and Old Norse kallandi, equivalent to call + -ing.

  1. present participle and gerund of call