ticking

C2+ Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ˈtɪkɪŋ/ UK /ˈtɪkɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the rhythmic sound of a clock; strong fabric for mattress covers

The ticking of the grandfather clock filled the silent hall.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the rhythmic sound of a... fabrictickencloth clicking tick

Word family

Related forms tick tic

Etymology

In the fabric sense, from tick ('mattress cover'), from Middle English tikke, ultimately from Latin theca ('case, cover'), from Greek theke. In the sound sense, from tick, an imitative word for a light tapping noise.

theca Latin theke Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# ticking

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

## Meanings
1. the rhythmic sound of a clock; strong fabric for mattress covers

## Examples
- The ticking of the grandfather clock filled the silent hall.

## Synonyms
- fabric
- ticken
- cloth
- clicking
- tick

## Related Forms
- tick
- tic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: theca
- Root: theke

## Etymology
In the fabric sense, from tick ('mattress cover'), from Middle English tikke, ultimately from Latin theca ('case, cover'), from Greek theke. In the sound sense, from tick, an imitative word for a light tapping noise.

## AI Etymology
Ticking has a specialized history: In the fabric sense, from tick ('mattress cover'), from Middle English tikke, ultimately from Latin theca ('case, cover'), from Greek theke. In the sound sense, from tick, an imitative word for a light tapping noise. The historical chain includes Latin theca and Ancient Greek theke. The quoted older senses, "mattress cover" and "case, cover", supply the semantic anchors for ticking. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word ticking carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the rhythmic sound of a clock; strong fabric for mattress covers". Related English forms include tick and tic. The result is a noun and verb whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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