gerund

[Lạt. gerundium, from gerund us to be done or carried out, fut. pa . part. of gero = to carry out.] Gram.: Originally a part of the Latin verb used to expre the meaning of the present infinitive active in cases where the infinitive should properly be in some case other than the nominative. The word is also applied by grammarians to a dative form of the infinitive in Anglo-Saxon, governed by the preposition to , and expre ed by the suffix -e: as, etanne to eat, faranne to go. In Anglo-Saxon the gerund was used to expre a purpose or end, like the Latin gerund or supine. In phrases such as "Fit for teaching , fond of learning ," teaching and learning are not gerunds, but verbal nouns governed by the preposition, and representing AngloS axon substantives in -ung .