Poring

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of examining or studying something with great concentration brings about a form of intensive focus and deep understanding
2. The act of studying or reading something very carefully to understand it fully
3. Examining written material or information with great attention to detail

Etymology: "Poring" is the verb "pore" in its -ing form, and the verb has two separate origins that the modern sense blends together. The sense of bending over a book or document comes from a Middle English verb "poren" or "pouren", meaning to gaze intently or look closely. That word goes back to an Old English "*pūrian", a reconstructed form, and it belongs to a family of Germanic words meaning to poke or prod, such as Dutch "porren" and Danish "purre". Old English "spyrian", meaning to investigate, is the nearest relative offered for it, which suggests the idea of searching or probing sat behind the gaze. The more familiar noun "pore", the tiny opening in skin, is a different word altogether. It came into English from Old French, which took it from Latin "porus", itself from Greek "póros", meaning passage. Because the two words look identical today, people often assume they are connected, but the reading sense of "pore" has nothing to do with bodily openings.

Synonyms: studying, examining, inspecting

Antonyms: glancing, skimming