leaning
lean·ing/ˈliːnɪŋ/noun, verb
leaning is spelled L-E-A-N-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables (lean·ing). It appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, leaning means “A tendency or propensity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of leaning is leanings.
How many letters and syllables are in leaning?
| Letters | 7: L-E-A-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: lean·ing |
| In writing | 7.8 times per million words; the 8,417th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is leaning?
Leaning appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th 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 leaning?
- /ˈliːnɪŋ/
Leaning has 2 syllables, split lean·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-leaning.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of leaning
- leanings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does leaning mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A tendency or propensity.
a man of socialist leanings
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of lean
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Leaning in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense A tendency or propensity:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Orientierung |
| Spanish | tendencia, propensión, inclinación |
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 leaning come from?
From Middle English lening, leninge, from Old English hlinung (“leaning; resting; place of rest”), equivalent to lean + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).