proceeding

Pluralproceedings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A legal action of any kind, especially one that is not a lawsuit.

   The bankruptcy proceeding lasted several months before a settlement was reached.

   Both parties agreed to resolve the matter through arbitration proceedings rather than litigation.

   Similarcase, action

   Note

   Lawyers use it as the umbrella term. Bankruptcy, arbitration and impeachment all count, though none is a lawsuit in the ordinary sense. Kelly Phillips Erb, writing in Forbes in 2016, calls impeachment "a legal proceeding." The word also covers the smaller acts done under a court's authority, such as motions, hearings and applications. It is countable and often plural, as in bankruptcy proceedings.

2. 2
   noun

   A published collection of papers presented at an academic conference, or a record of the official acts of a learned society.

   Like the official minutes of a meeting, expanded to include the full papers that were presented.

   Her paper appeared in the proceedings of the international physics conference.

   The society publishes its proceedings annually, documenting each lecture and debate.

   Similartransactions

   Note

   Never singular: a conference's papers appear in its proceedings, and the volume keeps the -s even when it is a single book. Drop the plural and the word slips into other meanings, such as a step in business or a legal action, so the -s changes the sense, not just the number. The same plural covers a learned society's record of its own acts.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A measure or step taken in the course of conducting business; a single transaction.

   The board approved each proceeding before any funds were released.

   Every proceeding in the negotiation was logged for the auditors.

   Similarstep, measure, transaction

   Note

   A step judged as conduct: the adjectives that gather around it (illegal, cautious, violent) weigh how a thing was done, not merely that it happened. In the plural it becomes the record of an official body's actions, as when Macaulay's History of England (1848) speaks of "the proceedings of the high commission." That use sits close to the legal sense.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   An event or happening; something that takes place.

   The whole proceeding struck the guests as oddly formal.

   Reporters described the morning's proceedings as chaotic and unplanned.

   Similarevent, occurrence, happening, incident, episode

   Note

   Here the word turns a piece of behavior into something watched and judged, and it usually arrives with an adjective that does the judging. Rita Wellman's The Wings of Desire (1919) calls painting oneself at a mirror "a tortuous and fascinating proceeding." Incident is the more neutral synonym. Proceeding keeps a sense that someone is doing the thing, and the adjective usually comments on how.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   The act of one who proceeds, or who carries forward a plan or transaction.

   His cautious proceeding earned the trust of the investors.

   The orderly proceeding of the negotiations impressed everyone present.

   Similarconduct, progress, progression, course

6. 6
   noununcountable

   A transition in which someone or something moves on to the next thing or stage.

   The proceeding from theory to practice was gradual but steady.

   Her lecture traced the proceeding from cause to effect.

   Similarprocedure

7. 7
   verb

   Present participle of proceed.

   The committee is proceeding cautiously after the recent setback.

   Proceeding without permission could cause serious problems.

   Note

   The -ing form does three jobs. It is a participle in the progressive (the committee is proceeding) and a gerund in a noun slot (proceeding without permission). Through the same proceed + -ing formation, it is also a countable noun with the plural proceedings. Because proceed is intransitive in all its senses, the participle never takes a direct object. An adverb or a phrase follows it instead.

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