Word.ws English Dictionary

patterning

patterning is the present participle and gerund of pattern.

Noun

patterning (countable and uncountable, plural patternings)

  1. A pattern; the production of a pattern; the process of forming a pattern.
    • […] the tesseræ will form patterns which for us are wholly meaningless, yet the patterning in every case is equally specific and inevitable, implying the pattern above it, implied in that below[…]1905, William Hurrell Mallock, The Reconstruction of Belief, page 151
    • Any system of geometric patterning that covers or fills a surface using a finite set of shapes is considered tiling in a mathematical sense.2015, Kim Williams, Michael J. Ostwald, Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future, page 460
  2. Emulation, following as a model; frequently with after.
    • When it is serious it leads to a copying after the manners and personal habits of elders, and a patterning after the style of dress in those whom the children admire.1916, H.W. Nutt, “Genetic psychology of suggestion as a factor in human behavior”, in Teacher’s Journal, page 793
    • His name became synonymous with God himself. Therefore, to be called by his name involved an inseparable commitment to a patterning after his life and a confession of his being.2001, Douglas Webster, A Passion for Christ, page 66

Meaning of pattern

Verb

pattern (third-person singular simple present patterns, present participle patterning, simple past and past participle patterned)

  1. To apply a pattern.
  2. To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.
    • [A temple] patterned […] from that which Adam reared in Paradise.1634, T[homas] H[erbert], A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC
  3. To follow an example.
    • Under his system, patterned after the French, the army corps became a more mobile, flexible command.1998, John B. Wilson, The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades
  4. To fit into a pattern.
    • Although there is no direct evidence for the identification of *θi as a genuine prefix in this word, it patterns well with the other discussed instances of *θi- both morphologically and semantically.2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements of the Sardinian Lexicon, page 198
  5. (transitive) To serve as an example for.
  6. (transitive) To observe an animal closely over time in order to discern its habitual movements and behaviours.

See all 33 meanings of pattern

Forms of patterning

pluralpatternings

Origin of patterning

From pattern + -ing.

Words formed from patterning

Phrases with patterning

Questions about patterning

What does patterning mean?
Patterning means a pattern; the production of a pattern; the process of forming a pattern.
What is patterning the present participle and gerund of?
Patterning is the present participle and gerund of pattern.
What part of speech is patterning?
Patterning is a noun.
What is the plural of patterning?
The plural of patterning is patternings.

Words near patterning in the dictionary

  1. patternedness
  2. patterner
  3. patterners
  4. patternicities
  5. patternicity
  6. patterning
  7. patterning up
  8. patternings
  9. patternize
  10. patternized
  11. patternless

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: patterning (page history and authors); pattern (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “patterning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/patterning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.