calling

C2+ Topic:Work & Careers

US /ˈkɔlɪŋ/ UK /ˈkɔːlɪŋ/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a strong inner urge toward a vocation or profession

She felt that teaching was her true calling.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a strong inner urge toward... vocation profession occupation mission trade pursuit career summons

Word family

Related forms call

Etymology

From call + -ing; call is from Old English ceallian or Old Norse kalla ('to cry out, summon'). The 'vocation' sense reflects a divine 'calling' or summons to a way of life.

kalla Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Work & Careers Word Formation & Derivatives

# calling

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈkɔlɪŋ
**IPA (UK):** ˈkɔːlɪŋ

## Meanings
1. a strong inner urge toward a vocation or profession

## Examples
- She felt that teaching was her true calling.

## Synonyms
- vocation
- profession
- occupation
- mission
- trade
- pursuit
- career
- summons

## Related Forms
- call

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: kalla

## Etymology
From call + -ing; call is from Old English ceallian or Old Norse kalla ('to cry out, summon'). The 'vocation' sense reflects a divine 'calling' or summons to a way of life.

## AI Etymology
Calling comes from call + -ing; call is from Old English ceallian or Old Norse kalla ('to cry out, summon'). The 'vocation' sense reflects a divine 'calling' or summons to a way of life. The historical trail runs through kalla in Old Norse. Morphologically, calling is transparent: it draws on call + -ing. Used as a noun, calling now means "a strong inner urge toward a vocation or profession", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as call. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Work & Careers
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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calling

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