holding

See also: Holding and hólding

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: hōldʹ-ĭng, IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊldɪŋ/
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [ˈhəʉɫdɪŋ]
  • (UK) IPA^(key): [ˈhəʊɫdɪŋ]
  • (US) IPA^(key): [ˈhoʊɫdɪŋ]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊldɪŋ
• Hyphenation: hold‧ing

Noun

holding (plural holdings)

1. Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
   • 1980, Joseph D. Dwyer, Russia, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe, page 9:

     Although this survey lists only a small number of representative materials in the Hoover Library's Baltic Collection, a comprehensive view of the library's holdings can be gained from the Hoover Institution's card catalog or its printed equivalent

   • 2009, The Economist, Law and order in Italy: Trouble with figures‎^[1]:

     Italy's right-wing prime minister was about to cure his biggest headache by selling the state's holding in a troubled airline, Alitalia.

   • 2014, D. K. Acharya, Standard Methods of Contract Bridge Complete, page 378:

     The defender at third position is supposed to keep the partner informed of his holdings in that suit.

2. A determination of law made by a court.
3. A tenure; a farm or other estate held of another.
   • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], line 3:

     Take again
     From this my hand, as holding of the Pope
     Your sovereign greatness and authority.

4. (obsolete) Logic; consistency.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], line 27:

     This has no holding,
     To swear by him whom I protest to love
     That I will work against him.

5. (obsolete) The burden or chorus of a song.
   • c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], line 109:

     Make battery to our ears with the loud music;
     The while I'll place you; then the boy shall sing.
     The holding every man shall beat as loud
     As his strong sides can volley.

6. (obsolete, rare) That which holds, binds, or influences; hold; influence; power.
   • 1770, Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, London: J. Dodsley, page 104:

     This is one of the principal holdings of that destructive system, which has endeavoured to unhinge all the virtuous, honourable, and useful connexions in the kingdom.

7. (in texts about Russia, nonstandard) A holding company, or other kind of company (by back-translation from Russian холдинг (xolding)).

Coordinate terms

• (determination): finding

Descendants

• → Polish: holding

Translations

something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds

• Armenian: հոլդինգ (hy) (holding)
• Bulgarian: владе́ние (bg) n (vladénie), притежа́ване (bg) n (pritežávane)
• Finnish: omistus (fi), omistusosuus (fi)
• French: possession (fr) f
• Italian: possesso (it)
• Romanian: posesie (ro) f
• Russian: владе́ние (ru) n (vladénije), хо́лдинг (ru) m (xólding)
• Sicilian: pussessu(company)

determination of law by court

• Russian: суде́бное реше́ние n (sudébnoje rešénije)

tenure; farm or other estate held of another

• Irish: gabháltas m

Verb

holding

1. present participle and gerund of hold

   They were caught holding hands in the dark.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.

Derived terms

• bag of holding
• be left holding the baby
• blanch holding
• blench holding
• bondholding
• bondholding
• breath-holding
• cardholding
• cardholding
• cross holding
• crossholding
• cross-holding
• crossholding
• deedholding
• deedholding
• fiefholding
• fiefholding
• freeholding
• freeholding
• fundholding
• fundholding
• handholding
• holding action
• holding cell
• holding charge
• holding company
• holding deal
• holding midfielder
• holding note
• holding pattern
• holding tank
• holding the ball
• holding the cards
• holding the man
• holding time
• inholding
• jobholding
• jobholding
• keyholding
• keyholding
• landholding
• landholding
• leaseholding
• leaseholding
• leave someone holding the baby
• leave someone holding the bag
• lienholding
• lienholding
• officeholding
• officeholding
• onholding
• onholding
• passholding
• passholding
• patentholding
• patentholding
• permitholding
• permitholding
• pewholding
• pewholding
• placeholding
• placeholding
• plotholding
• plotholding
• policyholding
• policyholding
• powerholding
• powerholding
• recordholding
• recordholding
• rightsholding
• rightsholding
• roadholding
• roadholding
• runholding
• runholding
• section 104 holding
• shareholding
• shareholding
• shipholding
• shipholding
• slaveholding
• slaveholding
• small holding
• stakeholding
• stakeholding
• stallholding
• stallholding
• steinholding
• steinholding
• stockholding
• stockholding
• titleholding
• titleholding
• toolholding
• toolholding
• unitholding
• unitholding
• wardholding
• wardholding

 

Anagrams

• hodling

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

holding m or f (plural holdings)

1. holding company

Further reading

• “holding”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English holding.

Noun

holding f (invariable)

1. holding company

Polish

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from holding.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔl.diŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔldiŋk
• Syllabification: hol‧ding

Noun

holding m inan (related adjective holdingowy)

1. holding company (company whose main purpose is to own shares of other companies, as opposed to producing goods or offering services)

Declension

Declension of holding

	singular	plural
nominative	holding	holdingi
genitive	holdingu	holdingów
dative	holdingowi	holdingom
accusative	holding	holdingi
instrumental	holdingiem	holdingami
locative	holdingu	holdingach
vocative	holdingu	holdingi

Further reading

• holding in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• holding in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• holding in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English holding.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁow.d͡ʒĩ/ [ˈhoʊ̯.d͡ʒĩ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁow.d͡ʒĩ/ [ˈhoʊ̯.d͡ʒĩ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈʁow.d͡ʒĩ/ [ˈχoʊ̯.d͡ʒĩ]

Noun

holding m (invariable)

1. holding company

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French holding, from English holding.

Noun

holding n (plural holdinguri)

1. holding company

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	holding	holdingul		holdinguri	holdingurile
genitive-dative	holding	holdingului		holdinguri	holdingurilor
vocative	holdingule			holdingurilor

Spanish

Noun

holding m (plural holdings)

1. holding company

Further reading

• “holding”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Turkish

Etymology

From English holding.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔl.diɲɟ/

Noun

holding (definite accusative holdingi, plural holdingler)

1. holding company

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	holding
Definite accusative	holdingi
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	holding	holdingler
Definite accusative	holdingi	holdingleri
Dative	holdinge	holdinglere
Locative	holdingde	holdinglerde
Ablative	holdingden	holdinglerden
Genitive	holdingin	holdinglerin
Possessive forms Nominative Singular Plural 1st singular holdingim holdinglerim 2nd singular holdingin holdinglerin 3rd singular holdingi holdingleri 1st plural holdingimiz holdinglerimiz 2nd plural holdinginiz holdingleriniz 3rd plural holdingleri holdingleri Definite accusative Singular Plural 1st singular holdingimi holdinglerimi 2nd singular holdingini holdinglerini 3rd singular holdingini holdinglerini 1st plural holdingimizi holdinglerimizi 2nd plural holdinginizi holdinglerinizi 3rd plural holdinglerini holdinglerini Dative Singular Plural 1st singular holdingime holdinglerime 2nd singular holdingine holdinglerine 3rd singular holdingine holdinglerine 1st plural holdingimize holdinglerimize 2nd plural holdinginize holdinglerinize 3rd plural holdinglerine holdinglerine Locative Singular Plural 1st singular holdingimde holdinglerimde 2nd singular holdinginde holdinglerinde 3rd singular holdinginde holdinglerinde 1st plural holdingimizde holdinglerimizde 2nd plural holdinginizde holdinglerinizde 3rd plural holdinglerinde holdinglerinde Ablative Singular Plural 1st singular holdingimden holdinglerimden 2nd singular holdinginden holdinglerinden 3rd singular holdinginden holdinglerinden 1st plural holdingimizden holdinglerimizden 2nd plural holdinginizden holdinglerinizden 3rd plural holdinglerinden holdinglerinden Genitive Singular Plural 1st singular holdingimin holdinglerimin 2nd singular holdinginin holdinglerinin 3rd singular holdinginin holdinglerinin 1st plural holdingimizin holdinglerimizin 2nd plural holdinginizin holdinglerinizin 3rd plural holdinglerinin holdinglerinin