longing

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒŋɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɒŋɪŋ
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːŋɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English longynge, langynge, langand, from Old English langiende, from Proto-Germanic *langōndz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), equivalent to long +‎ -ing (present participle ending).

Verb

longing

1. present participle and gerund of long

Etymology 2

From Middle English longinge, langynge, from Old English longung, langung (“longing, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *langungō, gerund of Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), equivalent to long +‎ -ing (gerund ending).

Noun

longing (plural longings)

1. An earnest and deep, not greatly passionate, but rather melancholic desire.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 132, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     all natural lovings and longings

   • 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods‎^[1], London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 2:

     For round the valley a great desert lies through which no common traveller may come, but those whom the gods have chosen feel suddenly a great longing at heart, and crossing the mountains that divide the desert from the world, set out across it driven by the gods, […]

2. The buying of a financial instrument with the expectation that its value will rise

Synonyms

• yearning

Derived terms

• longing mark

Related terms

• long

Translations

melancholic desire

• Albanian: mall (sq) m
• Arabic: شَوْق (ar) m (šawq)

  Hijazi Arabic: شوق m (šōg)

• Bulgarian: копнеж (bg) m (kopnež)
• Catalan: enyorança (ca) f, enyor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 渴望 (zh) (kěwàng)

• Czech: touha (cs) f, tesknění n
• Dutch: verlangen (nl) n
• Esperanto: sopiro
• Finnish: kaipuu (fi), kaipaus (fi), ikävä (fi)
• French: nostalgie (fr) f
• Galician: morriña (gl) f, saudade f, soidade (gl) f, estranía f
• German: Sehnsucht (de) f, Sehnen (de) n, Verlangen (de) n
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌴𐌹 f (gairnei)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πόθος m (póthos), ὄρεξις f (órexis)

• Hebrew: כְּמִיהָה (he) (k'mihá), כיסופים \ כִּסּוּפִים (he) (kisufim), גַּעְגּוּעַ (he) m (ga'agú'a)
• Hungarian: vágyódás (hu)
• Ingrian: kaiho
• Irish: cumha m
• Italian: brama (it) f, nostalgia (it) f, desiderio (it) m, voglia (it) f, anelito (it) m, bramosia (it) f
• Japanese: 憧れ (ja) (akogare), 切望 (ja) (せつぼう, setsubō)
• Kapampangan: pamagdulap
• Korean: 갈망(渴望) (ko) (galmang)
• Latvian: ilgas f pl, ilgošanās
• Lithuanian: ilgesys m
• Macedonian: копнеж m (kopnež)
• Malay: rindu (ms), hasrat, kehendak,
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lengsel m

  Nynorsk: lengsel m, lengsle f

• Persian: سودا (fa) (sovdâ)
• Polish: pragnienie (pl) n, tęsknota (pl) f
• Portuguese: saudade (pt) f for something absent only
• Romanian: dor (ro) n
• Russian: тоска́ (ru) f (toská)
• Sanskrit: छन्दस् (sa) n (chandas), वनस् (sa) n (vanas)
• Scottish Gaelic: cianalas m, iarraidh m, fadachd m, miann m or f, ionndrainn m
• Spanish: añoranza (es), anhelo (es) m
• Swedish: längtan (sv) c
• Tocharian B: ñyās
• Turkish: özlem (tr), hasret (tr)
• Urdu: اشتیاق (ur)
• Welsh: hiraeth (cy) m
• Yiddish: בענקשאַפֿט (benkshaft)

See also

• desire
• miss