belonging en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /bɪˈlɒŋɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (General-American) audio
- /bɪˈlɑŋɪŋ/ (cot-caught-merger)
- /bɪˈlɔŋɪŋ/ (General-American)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épider. 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.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The feeling that one belongs.
A need for belonging seems fundamental to humans.
I have a feeling of belonging in London.
-
(countable, in-plural) Something physical that is owned.
Now, upstairs, she changed into faded Levis and a green sweater, and fastened round her wrist her third most valued belonging, a gold watch […]
1966, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, New York: Modern Library, published 1992, Part I, p. 22:In the little houses the tenant people sifted their belongings and the belongings of their fathers and of their grandfathers. Picked over their possessions for the journey to the west.
1939 April 14, John Steinbeck, chapter 9, in The Grapes of Wrath, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, page 88: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.
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
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(colloquial, countable, dated, plural, plural-only, uncountable) Family; relations; household.
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.
1896, Joseph Conrad, chapter III, in An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin […], →OCLC, part II, page 121: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.
1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], chapter XXXIII, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 322:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| belongings | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
belongingness · belongingly · nonbelonging
Synonyms
Translations (42)
es bártulos (something physical that is owned) · es maritates (something physical that is owned) · de Besitz (something physical that is owned) · fi omaisuus (something physical that is owned) · ru принадле́жность (action of the verb belong) · zdj hindru (something physical that is owned) · nb tilhørighet (action of the verb belong) · ru со́бственность (something physical that is owned) · de Sache (something physical that is owned) · sv tillhörighet (something physical that is owned) · ka კუთვნილი ნივთები (something physical that is owned) · es efectos personales (something physical that is owned) · fi kuuluminen (action of the verb belong) · es pertenencias (something physical that is owned) · pt pertencimento (action of the verb belong) · es artículos personales (something physical that is owned) · bg принадлежност (action of the verb belong) · es macundales (something physical that is owned) · fr possession (something physical that is owned) · de Gut (something physical that is owned) · es cachachá (something physical that is owned) · txb waipecce (something physical that is owned) · de Eigentum (something physical that is owned) · de Hab und Gut (something physical that is owned) · sv tillhörighet (action of the verb belong) · za gvisug (action of the verb belong) · bg вещ (something physical that is owned) · de Zugehörigkeit (action of the verb belong) · gl pertenza (something physical that is owned) · es chivas (something physical that is owned) · sv ägodel (something physical that is owned) · es enseres (something physical that is owned) · fr affaire (something physical that is owned) · ga gustal (something physical that is owned) · de Habe (something physical that is owned) · az mənsubiyyət (action of the verb belong) · de Habseligkeit (something physical that is owned) · pt pertence (something physical that is owned) · es pertenencia (action of the verb belong) · ka საკუთრება (something physical that is owned) · fr appartenance (action of the verb belong) · fr bien (something physical that is owned)