Etymograph

English

feeling

Feeling comes from Middle English felynge, equivalent to feel + -ing.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500felynge1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1972feeling1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English feeling
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1972, George J. W. Goodman, Supermoney: “When you are tempted to speculate in cocoa, lie…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500felyngeWiktionary, English feeling
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1972feelingWiktionary, English feeling. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1972, George J. W. Goodman, Supermoney: “When you are tempted to speculate in cocoa, lie…”

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Today it means

adj Emotionally sensitive.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “feeling”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English felynge / feeling