What does passioning mean?
Passioning is a rare literary adjective and present participle associated with intense feeling. In its adjectival use, it describes a person, thing, or action marked by strong emotion: love, desire, anger, frustration, or excitement. The form often follows the noun it modifies, as in “a passioning embrace,” although this postpositive style is not mandatory. As a present participle, it can describe someone undergoing or expressing such emotion, as in “the passioning crowd.” Its force comes from its old-fashioned, heightened sound. Modern speakers would normally choose passionate, ardent, or impassioned in everyday contexts. Passioning can therefore add a poetic or emotionally dramatic quality to writing, but it may sound unusual in casual speech. It is related in meaning to the standard modern adjective passionate, though it is not simply a grammatical inflection of that word: it is formed directly from passion and belongs to a more traditional literary vocabulary.
Having or expressing strong and intense emotion, especially love, desire, anger, or excitement.
"Her passioning voice filled the hall."
Chiefly literary and often used after the noun it modifies.
Present participle of passion: experiencing or expressing strong, intense emotion.
"They stood passioning for justice while the officials deliberated."
Rare and literary in modern English; the standard adjective is usually passionate.
Less common than passionate, passioning has a distinctly literary ring: a passioning kiss sounds more like a poem than a conversation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does passioning come from?
Passioning was formed within English by adding the present-participle ending -ing to passion. The noun passion entered Middle English through Old French passion and ultimately derives from Latin passio, a suffering or undergoing, from pati, “to suffer.” The same Latin root also underlies words such as compassion, impassion, and dispassion. Unlike the familiar adjective passionate, passioning is now chiefly encountered in older or deliberately elevated literary usage.
Related word forms
How passioning is actually used
This form is chiefly literary and somewhat archaic in ordinary modern English. It may sound poetic or heightened, and it is less usual than the standard adjective passionate.
Easily confused with passioning
Passionate is the standard modern adjective for someone or something intensely emotional, whereas passioning is a rarer, more literary form often placed after the noun.
Passioning describes intense emotion, while passing can mean moving by, proceeding, or transient.