| gerund |
| Definition - A verb that has been turning into a noun by affixing -ing, e.g. Do you mind my thinking of you? Notes: 1. When the -ing form is used as a verb, it is called a present participle. 2. They are also called verb-nouns. |
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Etymology - The word derives from the Old Latin gerundum, to be carried out (from Latin gerere, to bear or carry). |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from 1513: "There be moreouer belongyng to the infinitiue mode of verbes certayn voyces called gerundes … whiche haue bothe the actyue and passiue significacion." (Lilly, Introduction to Grammar (1549), Bijb) |
