gettingn.
/ˈɡɛtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈɡɛdɪŋ/ 1. Begetting, procreation, conceiving. Now archaic.In quot. a1382: the fact of being born (first).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > [noun]
i-streonc893
strainc950
akennessOE
spreadingOE
upspringc1000
akenningOE
akennednessOE
strainc1175
streningc1230
begetc1330
begettingc1330
engendrurec1350
generationa1382
gettinga1382
genderingc1384
multiplicationa1387
increase1390
prolificationa1393
procreationc1395
engenderinga1400
gendrure?a1400
engendure?a1425
progeniturec1429
propagation?1440
teemingc1450
breeda1500
geniturea1500
engenderment1507
progeneration1548
fathering1549
engender1556
race1561
multiplying1599
pullulation1641
progermination1648
reproduction1713
face-making1785
baby-making1827
begettal1864
fertility1866
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xxv. 34 Esau swere,..& ȝede forþ settyng att nouȝt þat he hadde solde [altered from ysolde] þe riȝteȝ of his first getyng.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 279 Of Merlyn his fantastik getynge [L. genitura].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22035 (MED) In his geting þe feind of hell Sal crepe in his moder to duell.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 140 Þe chylderyn of mannys gettyng Vnder þi weengys,..In hope schul be gyed!
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. cxli. f. lxxvv The sayd Sergius was accusyd or defamyd of ye gettyng of a Chylde.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxiv. 96 Slow riding..hindreth getting of children, and breadeth aches and lamenesse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iii. ii. 42 That's the losse of men, though it be the getting of children. View more context for this quotation
1691 L. Echard Exact Descr. Ireland ii. 21 The Priests themselves are very poor, and mind nothing but gathering of Goods, and getting of Children.
1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) Arsenogonon, an Herb, which being steep'd in Wine and drank, is said to procure the getting of a Male Child.
1814 Masquerade iv. ii, in J. Galt New Brit. Theatre I. 258 I shall grow like my sister, and think the getting of children a plague and evil.
a1849 T. L. Beddoes Second Brother ii. ii, in Poems (1851) I. 35 Better thou wert the brother of his foe Than what thou art, a man of the same getting.
1925 V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway (2003) 66 How Shakespeare loathed humanity—the putting on of clothes, the getting of children, the sordidity of the mouth and the belly!
1972 P. O'Brian Post Captain xii. 334 The parson joined them very gravely, telling them that the purpose of their union was the getting of children, and that it was better to marry than to burn.
2012 C. Merrill Lady Priscilla's Shameful Secret ii. 40 He had imagined the getting of an heir to be a momentary pleasure, surrounded by a lifetime of awkwardness and frigid courtesy.
a. In plural. Produce. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun] > production > product > produce, yield, or return
gettinga1382
increasingc1384
fruitc1450
increase1560
growth1580
increment1593
brood1600
return1614
produce1650
improvement1706
out-turn1801
bag1858
production1878
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. vi. 20 In the werk forsothe of it a litil thou shal trauailen, and soone thou shalt ete of the getingus of it [a1425 L.V. the generaciouns therof; L. generationibus].
b. A generation. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) xiii. 10 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 145 For lauerd night and dai In rightwise getinge es he ai [L. in generatione iusta est].
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) ix. §28. 36 I sall noght be stirid fra getynge in getynge [L. a generacione in generacionem] with outen ill.
c. The nativity (of a person). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > [noun]
birdeOE
birtha1200
i-borenessc1225
bearingc1275
nativityc1375
progressionc1385
gettingc1480
natality1483
naissance1490
falling1533–4
nascence1570
natitial1612
progermination1648
happy event1737
engendure1821
arrival1830
birthhood1867
interesting event1899
c1480 (a1400) St. Clement 385 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 384 Fore of my-self & [of] my wyf..þe gettyne [L. genesin] kene I wondir wele.
3.
a. The action of get v. (in various senses); obtaining, acquisition, winning; coming or going (into, out of, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > [noun]
purchasec1325
gettingc1384
acquisitionc1400
accroaching?a1439
acquesta1456
encheving1470
obtaining1470
acquiring1531
procuring1532
obtainment1536
acquiry1549
conquest1556
acquist1613
assecution1615
obtention1624
acquirement1641
obtainal1803
obtainance1846
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Heb. x. 39 We ben not the sones of withdrawynge awei into perdicioun, but of feith into the getyng [L. adquisitionem] of soule.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. i. 1095 Þey haueþ redynesse of witte in..sechynge and getynge of mete and of norisshynge.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ecclus. xlii. 4 Of the getyng [E.V. a1382 Douce 369(1) purchasyng; L. adquisitione] of many thingis.
c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 74 For litel is woorth thing ygoten if after the getinge it ne be kept.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lxxiiii After the gettyng of the toune, the castle..denied to rendre, and so it was strongly besieged.
1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job (new ed.) cxxvi. 649 Whyle wee be afflicted, wee bee couered with the darknesse of death, and it seemeth to vs that there is no getting out of it.
1609 T. Pimm tr. St. Augustine Sinners Glasse sig. k6 A perfect purging of all my transgressions, a banishing of all euill thoughts, and a getting againe of good senses.
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) ii. xxvi. 36 Yea but I am sure that his getting hinders my gains.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 69/1 The Cornishes..by their projection hinder the getting into the Town from scaling Ladders.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. i. 299 The only step to be taken was, the..getting out of her [sc. the ship] as much as we could before she was destroyed.
1772 H. Mackenzie Man of World (1773) I. i. iv. 46 With Annesly, the getting of a lesson, or performing of an exercise, was a privilege.
1822 H. Mackenzie Life Home 95 Mrs. Siddons told me she never found any study (which, in the technical language of the stage, means the getting verses by heart) so easy as that of Douglas.
1839 W. M. Thackeray Catherine viii, in Fraser's Mag. Nov. 533/2 He had not the genius for getting.
1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 63 Wood was to be had for the getting.
1920 Isis 5 May 9/2 He will get runs, and in the getting of them the ball will be ‘punched’ very hard.
1951 Life 29 Oct. 49/1 A builder in Columbus, Ohio is making the getting of a new home almost as easy as just wishing for it.
1995 J. Banville Athena 4 Aunt Corky at a stroke (to coin a phrase) has solved my life, or the getting and spending part of it, anyway.
b. concrete. Usually in plural. That which is got or acquired; gains, earnings. Now archaic and regional.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > [noun] > that which is obtained or acquired
strainc950
i-winc1000
winc1175
winninga1300
purchasec1325
by-gatec1330
getc1390
gettingc1400
acquisition1477
conquest1556
gleaning1576
acquiring1606
acquest1622
acquist1635
attain1661
obtainment1829
acquiree1950
c1400 Prose Versions New Test.: 1 Tim. (Selwyn) (1904) vi. 6 (MED) A ful gret getynge [L. quæstus] is pyte wiþ suffysaunce.
c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 77 A yong man that habaundoneth hym holy in ydylnes and dispendith his goodes and his gettynges in delyte off his body.
a1450 (c1350) Northern Homily: Feast Corpus Christi (Cambr. Dd.1.1) l. 98 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) 171 He ne rouhte how al þe world ȝode, so þat his owne geting were gode.
a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 4 By whiche he hade grete getynge.
a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 27 The Englysh hoste, wyth grete gettynges and wyth ryche yftes, turned ayen Into Leynystre.
1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 4v To get more to it wittily. To kepe thy gettings couertly.
1587 R. Holinshed et al. Hist. Eng. (new ed.) viii. ii. 187/2 (heading) in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I Certeine Danish rouers..spoile the coast,..make sale of their gettings, and returne to their countrie.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. x. §13. 124 Hee..was desirous to be soone at home, that he might freely enjoy his gettings.
1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 103 She hath half share of her own Gettings besides a little Snicking by the by.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. i. vi. 106 A small monthly Share of their Gettings, to be a Portion for the Child.
1760 S. Foote Minor ii. 58 Your gettings should be added to the estate.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors I. i. 16 They dispossess him of his greedy gettings.
1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day i. 13 Red Kelly is in to play the game, and get all the legitimate getting that comes his way.
1982 B. G. Charles Eng. Dial. S. Pembrokeshire 25/1 Gettings, earnings, wages, profit.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 143/2 Gettings, gittins, gittance,..earnings, wages... Gains in card-playing.
c. while the getting is good: while the conditions are favourable, esp. for the acquisition of something; originally in to get while the getting is good. Also frequently in to get out (also go, leave, etc.) while the getting is good: to leave or extricate oneself from a situation at an advantageous time.Cf. earlier while the going is good at going n. Phrases 2.
ΚΠ
1906 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 6 Mar. 8/7 Slosson is the greatest one-cushion player in the world. He..never falls down on an easy shot. George's logic is ‘Get while the getting's good.’
1914 Winnipeg Lutheran 1 June I have simply decided to get out while the getting is good.
1929 Times 7 June 16/4 Operators on the stock exchange, whose only interest was to get what they could out of the holdings, while the getting was good.
1944 Washington Post 5 May 12/8 Better take it while the getting is good. When this supply fails, you may be a long time without!
1998 Field & Stream Feb. 76/4 Quail are a ‘get while the gettin's good’ game bird, and this is one of the good years.
2013 L. Wilde Born Ready 75 Something weird is going on here. Just pay the bill and leave while the getting is good.
Compounds
C1. With adverbs, forming nouns of action corresponding to uses of the verb with adverbs in specialized senses at get v. Phrasal verbs 1.An apparently earlier example of getting up in the following quot. is probably an editorial transcription error for setting up, which occurs on the same page in two other items ‘paid to Morecocke’:† getting forth n. Obsolete
1516–17 Churchwardens' Accts. Heybridge, Essex in J. Nichols Illustr. Manners & Expences Antient Times (1797) 158 Item, paid to Morecocke, for gettynge upp of the seynts in the chirche.
getting about n.
ΚΠ
1797 M. Robinson Walsingham IV. xc. 280 News arrived from Bath that I was down of a fever with little hopes of getting about again.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters IV. 26 That extraordinary road, and its goings on, and gettings about.
1940 P. White Let. 12 Sept. (1994) ii. 33 And there is no means of getting about—no buses or taxis—, if one ventures out.
2005 Wine Internat. Jan. (Austral. Life Suppl.) 28/3 Cycling, walking or catching the bus are the prime means of getting about.
ΚΠ
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya i. 15 All the gallant Fleete, and miserable men, without hope of euer getting forth agayne,..remayned heere all the whole night.
1598 F. Meres Palladis Tamia ii. f. 190 The entance [sic] into a weele or bownet is easie, but the getting foorth againe verie difficult.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §328 The Getting forth, or spreading of the Spirits.
1660 S. Pordage in tr. Seneca Troades ii. ii. Comm. 57 The Ancients had a fond conceit that the Soul was inhumated with the body, therefore for her better getting forth to go to the Seat of the happy.
1735 tr. Viscomte de Turenne Memoirs in tr. A. M. Ramsay Hist. Visct. de Turenne II. iii. 183 Sallies were very much to be fear'd, because there's no getting forth of the trenches, when once those at the head of them are beaten.
a1896 W. Morris Water of Wondrous Isles (1897) i. xv. 35/1 It was a near thing but that Birdalone followed her into the boat, but she feared the getting forth again, so she but hung over it as close as she might.
getting in n.
ΚΠ
?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 369 Þis lawe of getynge in of þes temporaltes.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin xiii. 753 Frantiscomaria..returned vpon the state of Vrbin to giue defence and protection to his people for the getting in of their haruest.
1692 J. P. New Guide Constables 5 You shall cause all Persons, meet, to serve by the day for the Mowing, Reaping, or getting in of Corn or Hay.
a1752 R. Erskine Serm. (1796) VII. cxvi. 244 By a readiness of state, I mean, a being brought out of a state of nature into a state of grace, or a getting in to Christ, and being found in him.
1882 F. J. Bramwell Making & Working Channel Tunnel 4 The getting in of the permanent lining.
1947 Pop. Sci. Monthly Apr. 85/2 The getting-in and getting-out time is piffling compared with the greater safety of structure that fewer doors would provide.
2000 Canoeist Apr. 43/2 The kayak is hauled onto the bank and then lifted ceremoniously to the shoulder like a Viking's coffin for a funereal march to the getting in point.
getting up n.
ΚΠ
1575 W. Patten Cal. Script. sig. Li Ascensus, A bitter clymbyng. A getting vp.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. v. 36 I shall aunswere that better to the common-wealth than you can the getting vp of the Negroes belly. View more context for this quotation
a1676 H. Guthry Mem. (1702) 60 This Emergent made those at home more eager for getting up of an Army.
1734 F. Clifton tr. Hippocrates Upon Air 356 Frequent gettings up to stool, where the discharge is but small, somewhat glutinous, and a little stercoraceous.
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 435 Expenses attending the ‘getting up’ of the representations.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. v. 82 Like the getting-up of companies, the getting-up of agitations..is..a means of advancement.
1940 Flying & Pop. Aviation Dec. 14/2 But an early start is very hard to get in actual practice—and unpleasant, too: the getting up in the dark of night, the touring.
2002 A. Cumming Tommy's Tale (2004) 146 The getting up from the sofa had been, I was right, a guilt impulse.
C2. † getting rock n. Mining (English regional (Staffordshire)) Obsolete a sandstone bed associated with the Lower Coal Measures of South Staffordshire and containing mineable amounts of iron ore.
ΚΠ
1817 W. Pitt Topogr. Hist. Staffs. 177 Getting rock, containing iron-stone.
1858 Mem. Geol. Surv. Great Brit.: Iron Ores ii. 112 Below the Fireclay coal [in the South Staffordshire coal field] there is generally from 2 to 10 feet of fireclay, after which a sandstone is frequently met with, sometimes containing balls of ironstone sufficient to be worth getting. It is then called ‘the Getting Rock’.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Getting-rock, clay ironstone in the roof of a coal-seam, which is worked in conjunction with the coal.
getting-on race n. Cambridge University a race in which the winning boat obtains the right to row in the Lent races.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > [noun] > types of rowing race
torpid1838
bumping race1842
row-over1866
sculls1878
May1879
Lents1886
fours1891
getting-on race1892
row-off1893
re-row1901
tub-race1903
bumper1906
bump1923
bumps race1927
head race1953
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Feb. 2/3 The getting-on races took place last week.
1928 Daily Tel. 7 Feb. 15/5 Five crews entered for the getting-on races at Cambridge which start tomorrow.
2000 J. Durack et al. Bumps i. 50 In the late 1990s the women's May races have a total of sixty-six eights, compared with ninety-nine men's crews, with a ‘Getting On Race’ a regular feature for each.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gettingadj.
/ˈɡɛtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈɡɛdɪŋ/ 1. That gets or acquires something; (also) that desires to get something, acquisitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > [adjective]
getting1547
1547 C. Langton Very Brefe Treat. Phisick i. sig. Aiii Comparans, which in our tong may be called a gettyng arte, for it doeth make nothynge, but by studye, & industry getteth certen thynges as fysshynge and huntyng.
1635 E. Rainbow Labour 29 A Science, if not more thriving, yet more getting than any of the Liberall ones.
1695 J. Collier Misc. upon Moral Subj. 130 As for the Getting part, a covetous Man never troubles himself with the Niceties of Morality.
1696 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk (ed. 2) 157 Every Religion is a getting Religion; for though I my self get nothing, I am subordinate to those that do.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris (ESTC T72826) §331 The most knowing as well as the most getting part of mankind.
1871 J. Hinton Select. from MSS II. 216 There shd be the self-consciousness; but not as now on the getting part.
1921 M. Moore Let. 8 July in Sel. Lett. (1997) 168 I think the getting spirit of the Jews is the same as ours but they are a little more successful.
1959 Furrow 10 179 Sin in whatever form comes to be seen as negation, the ‘getting’ attitude of impurity and immodesty as but another form of selfishness.
2006 G. Vas Compl. Guide to Business Lett. (2008) iv. 135 Make it clear that you have a giving attitude rather than a getting attitude.
ΚΠ
1632 T. Randolph Jealous Lovers v. ii. 75 You were born Under a getting constellation, A fructifying starre.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1382
adj.1547