# liking

Pronunciation: US say "LY-king" /ˈlaɪkɪŋ/; UK

## Noun

1. A feeling of fondness or preference for a particular person or thing.
   - Simple: A feeling of fondness for or enjoyment of someone or something.
   - _Over the years she developed a real liking for old jazz records._
   - _His liking for solitude meant he rarely joined the group on weekends._

## Verb

2. Present participle and gerund of like. — present participle and gerund of like
   - Simple: The -ing form of like. Use it to name the action, or after a noun to describe it.
   - _Reviewers are liking the redesigned app more than the original._
   - _He caught himself liking the slower pace of country life._

## Noun

3. Approval, or the state of regarding something as satisfactory. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Approval, or the feeling that something is good enough.
   - _The proposal at last received the king's liking and was set in motion._
   - _He sought the elders' liking before announcing the betrothal._

## Origin

**Meaning 2** — From Middle English likinge, from Old English līciende, the present participle of the verb, going back to Proto-Germanic *līkāną; it is equivalent to "like" plus "-ing."
**Meanings 1, 3** — From Middle English likinge, from Old English līcung ("pleasing; pleasure; gratification; liking"), equivalent to "like" plus "-ing."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/liking (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).