proceeding
/pɹəˈsiːdɪŋ/
proceeding is the present participle and gerund of proceed.
Noun
proceeding (plural proceedings)
- The act of one who proceeds, or who prosecutes a design or transaction.
- An event or happening; something that happens.
- I had a grandstand view of the proceedings.
- He had often painted himself at a mirror, a tortuous and fascinating proceeding, as every artist knows, and had been forced to admire the way in which he was made.1919, Rita Wellman, The Wings of Desire
- A published collection of papers presented at an academic conference, or representing the acts of a learned society.
- Progress or movement from one thing to another.
- I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such...1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- procedure
- A measure or step taken in a course of business; a transaction.
- an illegal proceeding
- a cautious or a violent proceeding
- Synonyms:
- measure, step, transaction
- Any legal action, especially one that is not a lawsuit.
- December 7 2016, Kelly Phillips Erb writing in Forbes, House Says No To Renewed Efforts To Impeach IRS Commissioner
Since impeachment is a legal proceeding, while anyone can make a motion to start the process, the Judiciary Committee determines whether there are sufficient grounds for impeachment.
- December 7 2016, Kelly Phillips Erb writing in Forbes, House Says No To Renewed Efforts To Impeach IRS Commissioner
Meaning of proceed
Verb
proceed (third-person singular simple present proceeds, present participle proceeding, simple past and past participle proceeded)
- To move, pass, or go forward or onward; to advance; to carry on.
- to proceed on a journey
- To pass from one point, topic, or stage, to another.
- to proceed with a story or argument
- To come from; to have as its source or origin.
- Light proceeds from the sun.
- To go on in an orderly or regulated manner; to begin and carry on a series of acts or measures; to act methodically.
- He that proceeds upon others Principles in his Enquiry into any Sciences, though he be reſolv’d to examine them and judge of them freely, does yet at leaſt put himſelf on that ſide, and poſt himſelf in a Party which he will not quit ’till he be beaten out; […]a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC, § 34, pages 105–106
- To be transacted; to take place; to occur.
- And he will (after his ſowre faſhion) tell you
What hath proceeded worthy note to day.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- And he will (after his ſowre faſhion) tell you
- To be applicable or effective; to be valid.
- For it [this rule] only proceeds and takes place, when a Perſon cannot of common Right condemn or bind another by his Sentence; […]1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Absolution”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach...
Synonyms of proceeding
5 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of proceeding
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | proceding |
| Noun | |
| plural | proceedings |
Origin of proceeding
By surface analysis, proceed + -ing.
Words formed from proceeding
Phrases with proceeding
Words that rhyme with proceeding
Questions about proceeding
- What does proceeding mean?
- Proceeding means the act of one who proceeds, or who prosecutes a design or transaction.
- What is proceeding the present participle and gerund of?
- Proceeding is the present participle and gerund of proceed.
- What part of speech is proceeding?
- Proceeding is a noun.
- How do you pronounce proceeding?
- Proceeding is pronounced /pɹəˈsiːdɪŋ/.
- What is the plural of proceeding?
- The plural of proceeding is proceedings.
Words near proceeding in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: proceeding (page history and authors); proceed (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-proceeding.ogg.
Cite this entry: “proceeding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/proceeding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.