| present participle |
| Definition: A verb form — usually ending with ing — that denotes ongoing action. |
| Example: The word asking is the present participle of the verb to ask. |
| Etymology: The word derives via Old French from the Latin participium, a sharing or partaking. Note: The Latin grammatical term was coined as a translation of the Greek metokhe, sharer or partaker; the idea being that a participle partakes of the nature of both an adjective and a noun. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The first citation for participle is from 1388: "A participle of a present tens, either preterit, of actif vois, eithir passif, mai be resoluid into a verbe of the same tens, and a coniunccioun copulatif." (Wyclif Prol. 57) |