Practicing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Repetitively performing an activity in order to refine skills and enhance one's abilities
2. Regularly engaging in a task or activity to achieve a higher level of competence and expertise
3. Engaging repeatedly in an activity to build or sharpen skills ; currently employed in a particular occupation or profession

Etymology: The verb "practice" comes from Ancient Greek "praktikós," meaning "concerned with doing" or "fit for action," a word built on "prassein," "to do." That sense of doing and acting is still visible in the English word. It passed through Late Latin "practicus" and Medieval Latin "practicō," then into Middle French as "pratiquer," which was reshaped into "practiser" and "pratiser." English borrowed that verb in the Middle Ages as "practicen" and "practisen," so the verb was in use long before the modern spelling settled. The spelling is the odd part. The noun was once spelled "practise," but it was gradually assimilated to the many English nouns ending in "-ice," such as "notice" and "service," and "practice" became the noun while "practise" took on the verb role. The "-ing" ending added to form "practicing" is a regular English suffix, so the word follows the verb pattern rather than the noun pattern.

Synonyms: rehearsing, training, drilling, exercising, performing

Antonyms: neglecting, ignoring, abandoning, disregarding, forsaking