begging
/ˈbɛɡɪŋ/noun, verb
begging is spelled B-E-G-G-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, begging means “The act of one who begs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of begging is beggings.
How many letters and syllables are in begging?
| Letters | 7: B-E-G-G-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.5 times per million words; the 7,910th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is begging?
Begging appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce begging?
- /ˈbɛɡɪŋ/
Begging has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-begging.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of begging
- beggings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does begging mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of one who begs.
- 2
Money or goods acquired by begging.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of beg
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Begging in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the act of one who begs:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | manche |
| Spanish | deprecación, ruego, súplica |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does begging come from?
From Middle English begging, beggyng, beggynge, equivalent to beg + -ing (gerund ending).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).