Furthering

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Helping to advance or progress a cause, plan, or goal
2. Supporting or aiding the development or growth of something
3. Acting to encourage or assist in moving something forward

Etymology: "Furthering" is simply the present participle and gerund of "further," so its story is the story of the verb underneath it. In Old English, the adverb was "forþor" or "furþor," meaning "further" in the sense of "more forward" or "farther along." That word traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root, "per-," meaning roughly "forward," which is also the root behind the preposition "for" in many languages. The "-ther" in "further" is a surviving comparative ending, the same one found in "other," "either," and "whether." Some scholars instead see "forth" plus "-er" as the older building blocks, so the exact internal breakdown is debated. Either way, the word has been moving forward in meaning for well over a thousand years. Its relatives show how widespread the idea is: Dutch "verder," German "fürder," and West Frisian "fierder" all carry the same sense of going onward. The verb form "to further," meaning to help something advance, grew out of that basic notion of pushing a thing forward along its path.

Synonyms: advancing, promoting, developing, enhancing, progressing

Antonyms: hindering, impeding, obstructing, retarding, stagnating