mending
UK[ˈmendɪŋ]US[ˈmendɪŋ]
n
The act of repairing something that is broken or damaged.
n
Things that need to be repaired or are being repaired.
Morpheme Breakdown
mend
ing
mend
repair
ing
noun suffix
Etymology
The verb 'mend' entered English from Anglo-French, tracing its lineage back to the Latin verb emendare, meaning 'to correct' or 'remove fault from'. This Latin source itself is a compound of ex- (out) and mendum (fault, blemish). Over centuries, the sense broadened from correcting textual or moral faults to the more general act of repairing physical objects. The addition of the '-ing' suffix creates a noun that captures the action or the collective result of this repair process, transforming the act into a concrete concept.
Analysis
Structure: mend (repair) + ing (noun suffix)
'mend' is from Latin mendare (to correct, free from fault), via Old French mender. The '-ing' is a native English suffix forming verbal nouns.
Examples
She sat by the fire, a pile of mending in her lap.
The old bridge is closed for extensive mending.
His broken heart was beyond any simple mending.