English
holding
From hold + -ing.
Formed from hold + -ing
Proto-Germanic *haldaną ‘to tend, herd’
Proto-West Germanic *haldan
Old English healdan
Middle English holden ‘to hold’
English hold
The story
The sense "holding company" is from Russian холдинг (xolding), a pseudo-anglicism derived from an ellipsis of holding company.
Today it means
noun Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “holding”. 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 / holding