icing
UK[ˈaɪsɪŋ]US[ˈaɪsɪŋ]
n
A sweet mixture of sugar and liquid, used to cover or fill cakes.
n
(In ice hockey) The illegal act of shooting the puck from one's own half of the rink to the far end, where it crosses the opponent's goal line without being touched.
Morpheme Breakdown
ice
ing
ice
noun
ing
noun-forming suffix
Etymology
The word 'icing' is a transparent English compound built upon the Old English noun 'īs', which itself descends from Proto-Germanic 'īsą'. The core concept of frozen water has remained remarkably stable. The addition of the noun-forming suffix '-ing' creates a term for a substance or result related to 'ice'. In its primary culinary sense, the logic is metaphorical: the smooth, hard, often white sugar coating visually and texturally resembles a layer of frost or ice on a surface. The secondary ice hockey term extends this logic of covering distance in a straight, unimpeded line, akin to a puck sliding over ice.
Analysis
Structure: ice (noun) + ing (noun-forming suffix)
- ice: From Old English 'īs', meaning "ice, piece of ice." Of Germanic origin, related to Dutch 'ijs' and German 'Eis'.
- ing: A suffix forming nouns from verbs or other nouns, indicating material, action, or result. From Old English '-ing', '-ung', forming verbal nouns.
Examples
She decorated the birthday cake with pink vanilla icing.
The referee called icing, and the face-off was moved to the other end of the rink.
For a simple glaze, mix powdered sugar with a little lemon juice to make a thin icing.